Mentally Oddcast Transcript: Author Jaime Johnesee
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More from this week's guest here.
Note: This interview was recorded weeks ago, before Bill Burr accepted money to perform for the fash. So when we praised him and his work, we did not yet know that he was a fash enabler.
00:00:01.10
Wednesday Lee Friday
You are listening to the Mentally Oddcast. My name is Wednesday, Lee Friday, and we are brought to you by Sometimes Hilarious Horror Magazine. Find us on Ko-fi. Today's guest is Jamie Jonassi, and let's see. Gosh, she is an author, an artist, a designer, a retired zoologist ah living in Michigan, the the greatest state, um with her husband and two sons, ah best known for horror comedy series Bob the Zombie,
00:00:29.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
ah She also served as project manager on and co-authored the paranormal horror series Revelations. She is currently authoring her Samantha Reese mystery series, among other series, for Devil Dog Press.
00:00:43.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
And you can find out more at jamiejohnnessy.com. We're going to have links in the description, okay? Hi, Jamie. Thanks for being here.
00:00:49.68
Jaime Johnesee
Hey, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
00:00:53.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, it's my pleasure. I know this kind of took some... ah Some scheduling, because we we both had, like, so much wild stuff going on. um
00:01:01.71
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, it felt a bit cursed for a minute there.
00:01:04.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right? Right? But, hey, if we give up on every project that feels cursed, we...
00:01:10.42
Jaime Johnesee
Exactly.
00:01:10.83
Wednesday Lee Friday
Something about the Annabelle doll.
00:01:11.24
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:01:12.39
Wednesday Lee Friday
I forget. um Okay, so um generally, we like to start by asking guests to tell us about the first horror movie that they remember seeing.
00:01:15.83
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:01:23.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I bet you've got a good one.
00:01:25.82
Jaime Johnesee
I do. um i was, think, six years old and my sister and I watched Poltergeist.
00:01:32.14
Wednesday Lee Friday
and Okay.
00:01:32.28
Jaime Johnesee
And when I went to go brush my teeth, she went and hid under my bed. when I went to climb into my bed, she grabbed my legs and started pulling me under.
00:01:41.67
Wednesday Lee Friday
ha ah
00:01:44.00
Jaime Johnesee
And um yeah, been in love with horror ever since. It was just fun.
00:01:47.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
It does seem like ah some of the best horror stories come from people pranking each other.
00:01:54.04
Jaime Johnesee
it does
00:01:55.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, the pushing the Ouija planchette, the, you know, guy knocking on the window from outside.
00:01:58.75
Jaime Johnesee
you Yeah, they are.
00:02:01.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
I mean, the the pranks really... um So, what would you say, though, that that experience put you on a path to writing horror?
00:02:11.29
Jaime Johnesee
um I think just my childhood as a whole was put me on a path for experiencing.
00:02:18.39
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, so...
00:02:18.81
Jaime Johnesee
and um i was an unwanted child, and as an unwanted child, um I was kind of given to whoever... they, you know, would, would take me and, um, some not so nice people did.
00:02:35.89
Jaime Johnesee
And, um, a lot of bad happened and I didn't, my parents did the best they could, but they didn't do the best. If that makes sense.
00:02:45.43
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, sounds like the that came up lacking, because keeping you there and raising you is kind of bare minimum for for parenting, is as I understand it.
00:02:52.82
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:02:54.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm not a parent, but I have all sorts of opinions on parenting.
00:02:56.08
Jaime Johnesee
Oh,
00:02:57.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
Just ask. Yeah.
00:02:58.89
Jaime Johnesee
i I am a parent and I would never, ever, ever, like we never let anybody except family babysit our kids. And I i know that's a little extreme, but because of things that happened to me, I wanted to make sure that I had people I could trust with them.
00:03:15.59
Jaime Johnesee
And like, I would, like there were times that I, like at eight years old, I was forgotten at school and like at eight o'clock at night, I'm having to walk home alone.
00:03:22.61
Wednesday Lee Friday
Whoa. Oh, my God.
00:03:25.96
Jaime Johnesee
So like I made sure that never happened for my kids. They always had someone there and they always had someone at all their school events and, and everything like that. And tom yes, exactly.
00:03:37.06
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, that's, I mean, breaking patterns. That's like the best thing you can do, right?
00:03:42.45
Jaime Johnesee
Exactly. um I was, I became the parent that I needed.
00:03:49.30
Jaime Johnesee
So, yeah.
00:03:49.88
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right on. Right on. So I think, I mean, i don't want to i don't want to put words in your mouth, but horror as a coping mechanism when your life is awful, that's something that I totally vibe with.
00:04:05.49
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, I think.
00:04:05.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
um I also, i come from an abusive home. It was more like, they didn't forget about me. It was like micromanaged to the point of cruelty because I had to
00:04:13.56
Jaime Johnesee
ah trees
00:04:14.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
I had to be around. They had to know where I was because I had to raise my brothers and cook all the food and clean everything and do the laundry and whatnot. So yeah, they they always knew where I was because they wanted to know why their shit wasn't clean.
00:04:26.81
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like even when I was in high school, I would come home after going to school and then working a full shift and the dinner dishes from the family dinner would still be sitting on the table and it'd be like,
00:04:37.85
Jaime Johnesee
I'm so sorry.
00:04:39.95
Wednesday Lee Friday
boiled sausage sitting there in lukewarm water for five hours and my mom would be like, oh yeah, dinner's on the table if you want some.
00:04:43.34
Jaime Johnesee
Gross.
00:04:46.19
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like, if I want some poison?
00:04:46.56
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:04:49.54
Wednesday Lee Friday
But certainly don't want to want to hijack your story. That that seems really awful. So...
00:04:56.01
Jaime Johnesee
Well, your story sort of parallels my sister's story. She was sort of the one that mostly raised me um and made sure I, you know, made sure I ate and I had things that
00:05:02.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay, yeah.
00:05:07.00
Jaime Johnesee
um
00:05:07.40
Wednesday Lee Friday
Mm-hmm.
00:05:08.31
Jaime Johnesee
You know, it was it was rough. And my mom did the best she could, but she um she wasn't able to do everything. And our dad went and started over with a whole new family.
00:05:20.90
Jaime Johnesee
So we just didn't matter anymore.
00:05:21.82
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, yikes.
00:05:24.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow.
00:05:24.88
Jaime Johnesee
And i I didn't mind that because he didn't pick us up as much. I was his punching bag. He treated my sister and my stepsister like gold, but I was his punching bag.
00:05:35.78
Jaime Johnesee
Like if my stepsister cheated on her diet, because at 12 years old, of course, she had to have a diet, right?
00:05:41.44
Wednesday Lee Friday
Ugh.
00:05:41.74
Jaime Johnesee
um I got beat for it. um I left home. at 17 with three broken ribs and a fractured skull. i you know stayed with friends for a little bit.
00:05:52.91
Jaime Johnesee
I stayed with family for a little bit longer. i just felt like a burden. So I went homeless for about three months, saved up enough money, and got myself my first apartment.
00:06:04.01
Wednesday Lee Friday
So when you say that you were homeless, are you saying that you were working the program in a shelter or you were just straight up on your own on the street?
00:06:09.25
Jaime Johnesee
i I was living in my Fiero. 1984 Pontiac Fiero.
00:06:17.81
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, geez.
00:06:18.08
Jaime Johnesee
And yeah. And so I stayed there for about three months. I worked two jobs. I got enough money for the down payment and all of that first and last month's rent and um got myself an apartment and just kept working until I could pay for my GED and my bachelor's degree in zoology.
00:06:39.79
Jaime Johnesee
um I worked three jobs to pay because my parents made too much money, so I didn't qualify for student loans at the time. um So, yeah, it was just, it was hell, but I did it, and I managed to to work some really awesome jobs at some fantastic zoos that I loved.
00:06:57.73
Jaime Johnesee
Thank Thank you.
00:06:59.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's amazing. Now, when you talk about those events in your life, do you ever hear from people saying, like, isn't that great that it gave you so much discipline, that it allowed you to succeed in life, that, you know, the the people that try to put a positive spin on abuse and trauma, have have you experienced that at all?
00:07:20.93
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, yeah. And I did it to myself. I was so self-abusive. Like, oh, you're pathetic. You only have one book out? Really? That's all you have? You really think you're somebody, huh? Like, I was my own worst abuser for so long.
00:07:34.26
Jaime Johnesee
I broke in 2018. Because you can only go so long abusing yourself before you're like... broken. And, um, I tried to kill myself in February of 2018 and I failed.
00:07:48.57
Jaime Johnesee
Um, I didn't tell anybody until November when it got bad again. And I reached out and I got help and I've been working with a therapist ever since.
00:07:57.40
Wednesday Lee Friday
So you had an attempt that failed and that, but you were not hospitalized after that.
00:07:59.91
Jaime Johnesee
I've had several attempts that failed. I've had three.
00:08:05.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
Cause that, that is typically when people notice and actually do something to help the the person who's, who's suffered and that, that didn't happen for you.
00:08:06.18
Jaime Johnesee
Um,
00:08:16.53
Jaime Johnesee
i I didn't tell anybody. i I took my dog's um choke chain and leash and I went out in the woods and I tied it to a branch and I tested it and everything seemed okay. And then I jumped and the branch broke and I fell.
00:08:33.83
Jaime Johnesee
And I cleaned up and I went inside and I cried because God, what a failure. I can't even kill myself properly. um And that was my third attempt and my last attempt so far. um My first attempt was when I was 10.
00:08:46.40
Jaime Johnesee
I tried to slit my wrist. And I, I did, yes.
00:08:49.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
ten Wow.
00:08:52.73
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:08:54.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow. that's um So you're you're in therapy currently.
00:08:59.97
Jaime Johnesee
Yes, I've been hospitalized twice for, for suicide.
00:09:00.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:09:04.38
Wednesday Lee Friday
i want I want to back up a little bit if we can.
00:09:06.18
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
00:09:06.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
now what what you ah Your diagnosis is drug-resistant major depressive disorder.
00:09:07.21
Jaime Johnesee
Sure.
00:09:13.09
Jaime Johnesee
Correct.
00:09:13.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Which, like, I'm bipolar one, so I don't have a ah good handle on that. um can you Can you first give us, like, kind of an overview of how that presents?
00:09:23.16
Jaime Johnesee
I am just constantly depressed. And I go through large bouts of suicidal aid ideation. um The last one was about five years. Every day, thousands of kill yourself,
00:09:36.03
Jaime Johnesee
not good enough um just every day. And it took a long time to work through that with my therapist and change the way I think about myself and what I've accomplished and everything.
00:09:49.70
Jaime Johnesee
Because like I saw z not being able to be a zookeeper anymore because of my lupus as a failure. And I didn't see it as what a success because all I wanted from the age of seven was to be a zookeeper. And I went and did it against all odds.
00:10:04.32
Jaime Johnesee
Cause like for every opening at a zoo, there's like 2,500 qualified applicants.
00:10:10.02
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, I'm sure.
00:10:11.25
Jaime Johnesee
And I, you know, I managed to to work it. Um, I interned at a mobile zoo in Alabama. It's now closed. Um, Birmingham Zoo in Alabama, Indianapolis Zoo in Indiana, and then I ended at Detroit Zoo.
00:10:26.10
Jaime Johnesee
I really loved it there. They're so awesome. I was supposed to work the and help build the new penguin exhibit, but I, the lupus just took me out and I couldn't do it. And, um, I, that killed me because I had wrapped so much of my identity into being a zookeeper.
00:10:36.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
Damn.
00:10:41.98
Jaime Johnesee
um I was on the enrichment committee ah where you know every AZA accredited zoo has a ah committee that is designated to um create toys and games and things to amuse and excite the animals. um Like ah your old expired spices, if you drop them off at the zoo, will do scent trails for the the lions and tigers to follow around their habitat with cinnamon or whatever.
00:11:05.96
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, wow.
00:11:07.52
Jaime Johnesee
um People don't realize that how much zoos actually do for animals. Like most, like AZA and AAZK donate more money to wildlife conservation than like World Wildlife Fund.
00:11:21.50
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, I've heard that actually, because the guy that does Casual Geographic on YouTube talks about that.
00:11:21.59
Jaime Johnesee
And...
00:11:27.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:11:27.36
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:11:28.69
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's that's
00:11:28.77
Jaime Johnesee
Bowling for rhinos. Every year we do a AZK American association of zookeepers does a ah drive called Bowling for rhinos and they, they bowl to raise money and, you know, they've raised millions of dollars to save the white rhino. So it's really great. And then they also do introduction, reintroduction of species that are, are endangered, uh, endangered or,
00:11:52.84
Jaime Johnesee
um ah threatened So they do a lot more than people realize. And AZA zoos haven't taken a land or air animal from the wild since 1971.
00:12:06.48
Jaime Johnesee
um
00:12:07.01
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, I think people seem to get really down on the concept of zoos in general, like, you know, calling it animal jail and stuff.
00:12:06.95
Jaime Johnesee
they take They've taken fish and stuff, but most...
00:12:17.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
But there are so many good reasons to have good, I mean, accredited zoos, obviously.
00:12:18.45
Jaime Johnesee
Like we Right.
00:12:22.85
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:12:23.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
There's a whole lot of roadside bullshit going on. But, like, accredited zoos that are taking good care of the animals and not that Joe Exotic nonsense, it's, I mean, it,
00:12:25.81
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:12:32.19
Jaime Johnesee
We have to go by flight. Each animal has what's called flight distance, which is an amount of space that they need to be comfortable. And so we go by the amount of animals that we have, the flight distance they need, and that's how their habitat is designed.
00:12:47.98
Jaime Johnesee
So like if 12 flamingos in the wild need a mile, they're going to get a mile of zoo property.
00:12:48.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
00:12:55.47
Jaime Johnesee
We don't overcrowd. We make sure they get exactly what they would need in the wild. um there are actual We have calculations, we have formulas, we have all kinds of algebraic equations, which really bothered me because I hate math and I had to use it so much like ah for figuring out penguin egg weights to see if they were viable or not. We'd have to weigh them every week and the discrepancy will let you know if the egg is viable or not.
00:13:24.16
Jaime Johnesee
So...
00:13:24.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, wow.
00:13:25.62
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, there's so much going on. Like, we we work with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. ah We work with police taking exotic animals out of, like, drug dealers' homes and such. um Zoos are very, very helpful.
00:13:40.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, Detroit Zoo in particularly, I mean, that's my zoo of choice.
00:13:40.25
Jaime Johnesee
We, um...
00:13:43.40
Wednesday Lee Friday
So I have a ah special fondness for my, i I just remember one of the first things when you go in, you know, you're following the elephant footprints and, uh,
00:13:43.87
Jaime Johnesee
Same...
00:13:54.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
in the reptile house with that big pterodactyl outside man that was my favorite and then yep and then like later on when my yellow anaconda got to be more than i could comfortably handle i actually called detroit zoo and was like hey can you guys take a yellow anaconda and they were like hey no but um
00:13:55.91
Jaime Johnesee
know Yep. I love that with the alligator pit. Yeah.
00:14:16.12
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
00:14:17.45
Wednesday Lee Friday
They were super cool about it, though, because they're like, yeah, we get it. And they you know they kind of explained, because they didn't have they don't have a yellow anaconda at Detroit Zoo, last I checked.
00:14:26.05
Jaime Johnesee
No, no.
00:14:27.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
but And they're they're the littler ones.
00:14:29.37
Jaime Johnesee
They're difficult.
00:14:30.88
Wednesday Lee Friday
They're they're easier to to deal with in the green, certainly.
00:14:31.21
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:14:33.48
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, I worked with a green anaconda Indianapolis Zoo.
00:14:33.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh,
00:14:36.40
Jaime Johnesee
I loved her to pieces. She was so awesome.
00:14:39.46
Wednesday Lee Friday
ah wow, can I ask the length?
00:14:41.52
Jaime Johnesee
I think she was 16 feet when I worked with her, but she, i you know, she lived a long time after I left, but she had a huge exhibit.
00:14:43.77
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, wow, okay.
00:14:51.96
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, I would bet so. I would bet so because they do need quite a bit of of space.
00:14:56.82
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, land and water.
00:14:56.97
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:14:58.02
Jaime Johnesee
It was, I think, like a 4,000-gallon pool for her to to swim and hang out in.
00:15:04.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow. Like I've only ever seen green anaconda in person at Shedd Aquarium because we went to Chicago for our honeymoon. And so the green anaconda and there was a Komodo dragon there at the time that had been on tour.
00:15:17.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
So those those were the big highlights for me.
00:15:17.65
Jaime Johnesee
We have...
00:15:20.29
Jaime Johnesee
we had Komodos at Birmingham and the keeper Randy was just awesome. Um, I got to to watch him.
00:15:27.47
Wednesday Lee Friday
Now, did you ever get to to work with those at all?
00:15:30.66
Jaime Johnesee
No, no, I was mostly birds and, um, and toward the end of my career, I was fully birds, but I, um, I've worked with lions and tigers and bears.
00:15:37.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
00:15:41.28
Jaime Johnesee
Oh my, um many species of snakes and lizards, all kinds of birds. Um, at crocodiles, alligators, caiman,
00:15:55.43
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's so neat. And I mean,
00:15:56.66
Jaime Johnesee
wallabies, kangaroos, just about everything.
00:15:59.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's, yeah, I'm so jealous. I was a reptile wrangler in a pet shop for like one summer and didn't get to work with, like the biggest thing I got to work with was a retake that was maybe 12 or 13 feet.
00:16:11.46
Wednesday Lee Friday
And that thing was mean.
00:16:11.50
Jaime Johnesee
I love them.
00:16:12.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
It reticulated python.
00:16:13.45
Jaime Johnesee
They are. Yes.
00:16:14.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
Ooh, ooh, it wanted to eat us so much.
00:16:14.59
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:16:16.96
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:16:17.14
Jaime Johnesee
They all do.
00:16:18.41
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah
00:16:18.51
Jaime Johnesee
those and to Toke geckos. I don't know what's up with the toke gecko, but they're just angry all the time.
00:16:24.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, you got to get the little geckos like I have because, you know, they're nice.
00:16:26.87
Jaime Johnesee
yeah I love them. They're beautiful. I love your colony.
00:16:31.85
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, they're cute. They're cute little guys. Well, and hopefully it'll become a much bigger colony because I was pretty disappointed to when I finally switched over from the smaller tank to the giant one I got them.
00:16:45.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I was expecting to see a whole lot more than I had.
00:16:45.84
Jaime Johnesee
It's gorgeous.
00:16:48.96
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it turned up turned out they were devouring the hatchlings with alarming frequency.
00:16:54.06
Jaime Johnesee
oh
00:16:55.44
Wednesday Lee Friday
and I had no idea.
00:16:55.63
Jaime Johnesee
well
00:16:56.36
Wednesday Lee Friday
i I felt bad because I had seen several of them hatch and they were no more. So, so the...
00:17:02.87
Jaime Johnesee
Unfortunately, gotta to rec yeah reclaim your calcium somehow.
00:17:07.37
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah Yeah, well, we're we're doing a few things differently in the new tank, so I don't anticipate a similar issue. But, you know, it's it's survival of the fittest in there, for sure.
00:17:14.63
Jaime Johnesee
Good. Live and learn. yep And live and learn.
00:17:18.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
um So, when were you initially diagnosed?
00:17:23.73
Jaime Johnesee
I was diagnosed back in 2013 as major depressive disorder. um The PTSD diagnosis came a little bit later, ah but yeah. yeah they And then I died 2005 due to one of the ah antidepressants that they tried to put me on because back then they thought I had fibromyalgia.
00:17:49.90
Jaime Johnesee
And so they tried me on...
00:17:50.20
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh.
00:17:52.33
Jaime Johnesee
I don't remember what it was right now. I'll remember later, I'm sure. But um yeah, I took it at work and I was walking to the penguinarium to get donut because when we brought in treats for everybody in the bird department, we would keep them in the penguinarium.
00:18:11.81
Jaime Johnesee
And halfway there on the sidewalk, I just couldn't breathe. I dropped and I was able to radio my boss that there was something wrong and she was able to get EMTs there. But um I was dead for like a couple of minutes. They got me back.
00:18:28.18
Jaime Johnesee
And yeah, that was the the end of that was the start of the end of my zoo career.
00:18:34.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yikes! That is terrifying!
00:18:36.38
Jaime Johnesee
And then when I was committed in November of 2018, they tried to put me on that medication. And when I refused to take it saying, hey, that's what killed me, they were like, you're just being brat.
00:18:53.50
Jaime Johnesee
And I was like, please go look at my medical records. And they did. And they're like, oh, well, I guess, you know, everybody's right at once in a while. Yeah.
00:19:03.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
What the hell? No!
00:19:05.02
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, it gets worse. While I was there, I was choked by a woman who thought I was an undercover FBI agent recording her. She was released.
00:19:16.01
Wednesday Lee Friday
A patient?
00:19:16.96
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, she was released the next day because her med levels were fine.
00:19:22.88
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh my gosh.
00:19:22.94
Jaime Johnesee
Like people, she assaulted me the day before and nearly killed me because she thought I was an undercover FBI agent and you let her go out on the streets because her med levels are fine.
00:19:37.52
Jaime Johnesee
Because that's all of our, that that's what these insane asylums mostly are these days. They they want to get you on drugs. You're there to be put on drugs. There's no talk therapy. There's no getting to the bottom of your issues. It's just for you to be put on drugs.
00:19:54.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, I mean, it's it's really just about, i mean, it's kind of like, it's analogous to when you're in school and you have ADD or autism or something that makes you disruptive in class.
00:20:07.28
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:20:07.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
The emphasis is generally, like, there are there are certain individuals who mean well and want to help you, but systemically, the the point is to make sure you can sit through class without bothering other people.
00:20:21.89
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's not necessarily about a proper diagnosis or ongoing care, understanding what's happening with you.
00:20:22.03
Jaime Johnesee
Well, the... Right.
00:20:28.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
Even IEPs are, you know, sit down and shut up to a point.
00:20:29.86
Jaime Johnesee
That's...
00:20:33.18
Jaime Johnesee
Well, that's that's that's the whole pisser of the thing is they diagnosed me as bipolar. I don't have mood swings. I'm just depressed. So um there's no up.
00:20:45.78
Jaime Johnesee
And ah the med that they put me on, taken with my Plaquenil, would have killed me long term because the med they put me on wasn't even for bipolar and it wasn't for depression. It was for schizophrenia.
00:21:00.65
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, no.
00:21:01.46
Jaime Johnesee
Then they made a huge point about the fact that I was refusing smoking cessation meds, but I had quit smoking like 15 years earlier, so why would I need smoking cessation meds?
00:21:13.32
Jaime Johnesee
It was noted in my chart like five times that I refused these meds.
00:21:18.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and that's the thing. The the quality of the care and like the bedside manner you get has such a profound impact on... your mental health and therefore your ability to function in the world.
00:21:31.96
Jaime Johnesee
Well, with no shower curtains, no doors on the bathroom, and guys just walking by staring at you while you shower, I felt worse coming out of there than I did going in.
00:21:32.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, like.
00:21:42.13
Jaime Johnesee
I felt so traumatized, so ah and unlistened to, and just and literally felt like they're just there to put you on some drugs for the pharmaceutical companies.
00:21:48.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
00:21:57.01
Jaime Johnesee
And then when I found out the med that the so smoking cessation med that they stopped that they kept mentioning that I refused, they're getting money from the pharmaceutical company for putting people on that medication.
00:21:57.11
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
00:22:10.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
Was it Welbutrin?
00:22:11.57
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:22:12.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah. ah It's so funny because i also went to a state hospital the first time that I was diagnosed. And I said, I'm pretty sure i have bipolar disorder because sometimes I feel like this.
00:22:26.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then sometimes I feel like this and there's no rhyme or reason to it. It's not situational. And they put me on Welbutrin.
00:22:32.26
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:22:33.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
They decided that I was severely depressed and put me on Welbutrin. Which, when you are bipolar, it makes you manic. And mania is is much more dangerous than than depression.
00:22:46.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
I mean, I certainly don't want to minimize depression.
00:22:47.51
Jaime Johnesee
Right, but they...
00:22:50.00
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because mini depression can put your whole life on hold. And it's awful. And you just want to die like all the time. i I certainly have had those lows.
00:22:57.00
Jaime Johnesee
But mania is dangerous for other people as well because, you know, If you're driving and get a little manic, get a little, go a little faster.
00:23:04.78
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well... When I'm manic, I usually think up brilliant ideas for my future that will definitely succeed if I just spend a few thousand dollars on it up front.
00:23:16.77
Wednesday Lee Friday
And that's not good for a poor person.
00:23:17.79
Jaime Johnesee
Gotcha.
00:23:20.02
Wednesday Lee Friday
It also makes me want to call my old doctor and my old boss and my mom and all these people and let them know what I really think of them because they need to know.
00:23:20.28
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:23:28.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
and you know, that they don't need to know. And I don't need to be put through the horror of telling them. Like, mania is really dangerous for me, so I watch out for that even more than I watch out for depression.
00:23:41.10
Jaime Johnesee
Well, that makes you a badass.
00:23:41.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because depression makes me say, wait, what does it make me?
00:23:46.61
Jaime Johnesee
A badass for being able to fight through that all the time.
00:23:48.01
Wednesday Lee Friday
Does it?
00:23:49.33
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:23:50.31
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, I have help now. I've had help since 1999.
00:23:52.83
Jaime Johnesee
Good.
00:23:54.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
And that, ah ah requires far less badassery on my part when when you got an H next to you all the time cheering for you.
00:24:03.68
Jaime Johnesee
Good. Good, because you deserve it.
00:24:07.52
Wednesday Lee Friday
Let me ask you this.
00:24:09.03
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:24:09.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
How mad do you get when you think about how different your life had been had you had appropriate care and support in your youth?
00:24:18.68
Jaime Johnesee
um I don't get mad at all because I wouldn't be the person I am today.
00:24:24.52
Wednesday Lee Friday
See, that makes you a badass, because boy do I get mad. um
00:24:29.54
Jaime Johnesee
I used to get mad, but I look at my kids and they wouldn't be the people they are if I didn't go through what I went through so that I could make sure that their lives were better than what I had.
00:24:43.49
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Alright. So, getting back to your your diagnosis. Now, if you are drug resistant...
00:24:51.76
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:24:54.35
Wednesday Lee Friday
Does that mean that you have to try like stronger drugs or does it mean non-drug alternatives? Like what?
00:25:00.14
Jaime Johnesee
non-drug alternatives. I am in um behavioral therapy. ah ah What's the cognitive behavioral therapy and working on, and and it has really helped to change my mindset and the way I treat myself.
00:25:09.43
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Yep.
00:25:17.32
Jaime Johnesee
um I am currently reparenting myself, if that makes sense. That's helped so much realizing that, um you know, I, I,
00:25:22.11
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep. Yep.
00:25:28.37
Jaime Johnesee
I looked at the way I was treating my kids and the way I was treating myself and I said, you wouldn't treat your kids that way. And your kids are watching the way you treat yourself. So I try to do better.
00:25:39.99
Jaime Johnesee
and
00:25:40.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah. Yeah, because that negative self-talk, man, that'll get you.
00:25:44.56
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, yeah. and Yeah, it does.
00:25:45.91
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's...
00:25:47.98
Jaime Johnesee
It really does.
00:25:48.41
Wednesday Lee Friday
it's it It really can drive, like, when you're already depressed, it it just creates this echo chamber of, like, you suck. Yeah, I do suck.
00:25:57.50
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
00:25:58.72
Wednesday Lee Friday
I wish I didn't suck so much.
00:25:58.93
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:26:00.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, well. Yeah.
00:26:01.56
Jaime Johnesee
And i don't I don't think people realize that suicidal ideation is self-brainwashing. Your brain is going through everybody you know and telling you how much better their lives would be without you in it.
00:26:17.32
Jaime Johnesee
And I hear all the time about how selfish suicide is, and it's like, no, you don't get it. Like, we think about you, but we think about how much better you would be if we weren't here.
00:26:29.06
Jaime Johnesee
Like I look at my kids and I go, gosh, if they didn't have a sick mom all the time, because I went eight years without being, without having an accurate diagnosis. So I would literally drop and have seizures.
00:26:40.10
Jaime Johnesee
And it would just be me and my like four-year-old and three-year-old and they would have to, you know, help because they didn't know what else to do. So like if they didn't have a sick mom, how much better would their lives have been?
00:26:52.43
Jaime Johnesee
And my brain does that to me. It tells me how much better everybody in this world would be if I wasn't here anymore. Because that's what I was told growing up. And that's what I fed myself when I was away from that.
00:27:06.37
Jaime Johnesee
ah You know, you' you'll suck if you don't do this. If you can't publish this by this day, then you're no good as an author, you know, um that kind of thing. and And the last five years, I've really...
00:27:18.22
Jaime Johnesee
changed and grown and gotten out of that and and learned more about being patient with myself. And it has actually helped my lupus. It's it's um shortened my flares. It's made them less painful.
00:27:33.12
Jaime Johnesee
um So yeah, be easy on yourselves, people.
00:27:37.11
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, I mean, the the studies seem to say pretty clearly that when you have stress, it impacts your physical health.
00:27:44.73
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:27:44.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
When you have anxiety, when you are, you know, struggling with past trauma, like all of those things impact your health. It's like when they finally can figured out the connection between depression and gut bacteria.
00:27:57.79
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:27:58.08
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I found out like Really. So it seems ridiculous to say if I ferment this food and then eat it, I'll be less suicidal. But that's the end result.
00:28:06.51
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:28:08.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's very strange. Well, EMDR is the same way. I'm a huge proponent of EMDR therapy, which is the the eye movement therapy.
00:28:17.74
Jaime Johnesee
Movement. Yep. It's good. I've read the neuropsychology today. It's really helpful.
00:28:23.65
Wednesday Lee Friday
And they they still don't seem to know exactly how or why it works.
00:28:29.21
Jaime Johnesee
It's the Konami code for people.
00:28:29.61
Wednesday Lee Friday
And, well, I mean, that's the thing.
00:28:32.49
Jaime Johnesee
the Right.
00:28:33.97
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like, you know, when I'll say, like, well, they don't really understand how it works. They just know that it does. I feel like i sound like somebody who's saying, well, I charged this crystal under the full moon and now I feel better.
00:28:45.43
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:28:46.95
Wednesday Lee Friday
But it it isn't, though. Like, it's actual science. Honestly, the government wouldn't pay for veterans to have it if it wasn't real, if it didn't help people.
00:28:50.66
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:28:55.17
Wednesday Lee Friday
They just wouldn't. Yeah. I think they might not be now, but not because of efficacy.
00:28:57.80
Jaime Johnesee
if I was going to say, right.
00:29:01.40
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's just because they're they're dicks is all.
00:29:03.82
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, they are.
00:29:03.95
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:29:04.46
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:08.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, we'll we'll get into that, I think.
00:29:08.29
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
00:29:10.51
Wednesday Lee Friday
but but um So you are so you're you're not medicated at all for your for your mental health issues. Is that right?
00:29:20.21
Jaime Johnesee
um I use medical marijuana for the pain, the swelling, and the depression. um There are some some hybrid strains that really help me out.
00:29:26.71
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Okay.
00:29:30.79
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, what are your favorite strains ah for depression?
00:29:33.38
Jaime Johnesee
Check here for sure. um And I like Green Crush.
00:29:35.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
00:29:38.90
Jaime Johnesee
ah Blue Dream is really good, but that's more of a writing one for me.
00:29:42.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, it is.
00:29:44.47
Jaime Johnesee
I love it. Right now, um i like Nick the Bruiser.
00:29:46.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
00:29:49.07
Jaime Johnesee
um That one's been fun.
00:29:49.65
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
00:29:50.72
Jaime Johnesee
um Yeah.
00:29:52.85
Wednesday Lee Friday
My guy ah just brought me some Starlet, it's called.
00:29:53.43
Jaime Johnesee
There's so many.
00:29:56.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's
00:29:56.87
Jaime Johnesee
Ooh.
00:29:58.08
Wednesday Lee Friday
it's like It's weird because it's ah sativa dominant, so I don't get real sleepy on it. But I ended up getting a whole lot of writing done the first the first time I took it.
00:30:03.51
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, that's my favorite.
00:30:09.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
So but yeah, Starlight.
00:30:10.86
Jaime Johnesee
I love that.
00:30:12.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
that's That's my recommends.
00:30:13.56
Jaime Johnesee
i
00:30:14.04
Wednesday Lee Friday
Not that you asked. Here's my unsolicited advice for for people that self-medicate with weed.
00:30:15.73
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
00:30:19.03
Jaime Johnesee
it
00:30:19.48
Wednesday Lee Friday
um Well, it's weird because you know I have people on the show who are sober Like they are, they were addicts and now they are sober and and live in that addict, ah you know, addiction free life or whatever.
00:30:26.42
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:30:35.25
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it is, the thing is I feel weird about it because i sometimes I feel like being so out loud and proud about being a weed smoker and it like a daily weed smoker for decades.
00:30:35.20
Jaime Johnesee
That is awesome.
00:30:50.48
Wednesday Lee Friday
I feel like I'm invalidating like Not just the experience of of an addict who gets clean, but just the the magnitude of that. like this The self-discipline and the work.
00:31:03.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
like That is so much work. you know and've I've done a lot of work on my mental health, but I have always been resigned to, like yes, I'll be using this thing.
00:31:13.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
and
00:31:14.10
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
00:31:14.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
you know and People will say, oh, it's a crutch. But if your leg is broken, you use a crutch. That's just, you know, nobody tells a guy with a broken leg, like, hey, maybe if you just focus, you wouldn't have to, you know.
00:31:20.02
Jaime Johnesee
Right. Exactly.
00:31:27.76
Jaime Johnesee
Well, the neurological studies on marijuana are showing that it can help with mental illness. It can help regulate bipolar disorder. It can help lift people with depression with the right strains.
00:31:41.89
Jaime Johnesee
So it it's really, a Neuropsychology Today, if you go on their site, you can dig through and find some some great articles about it and some of the things that they're doing and some of the testing that they're doing in places like Amsterdam and Germany.
00:31:55.91
Jaime Johnesee
um It's really interesting.
00:31:56.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, the yeah the information that we have now compared to just 15 years ago, I think I had heard of CBD 15 years ago, but not CBT or CBG or CBN or all these different compounds that we're getting now.
00:32:05.45
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:32:09.71
Jaime Johnesee
CBA. Yep.
00:32:13.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, because I mean, we've gone from like, okay, I smoke weed to be tired so I can go to sleep, but it's whatever weed was in the bag when the guy brought it over.
00:32:14.55
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
00:32:24.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like we weren't
00:32:24.46
Jaime Johnesee
Yes. Yep.
00:32:25.61
Wednesday Lee Friday
We weren't really choosing what exactly we were looking for. And now I've just, you know, got my lab coat on. Like, well, let me check the terpene profile before you leave, dude.
00:32:33.92
Jaime Johnesee
Right. yeah and Let me see how much TCHA is in this.
00:32:41.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right?
00:32:41.18
Jaime Johnesee
um
00:32:41.79
Wednesday Lee Friday
And now, like...
00:32:41.89
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, no, it's it's bizarre. um I can't do the infused stuff. It's too much for me. I try to keep my THC levels around between 15 and 20% because it gets too much, if that makes sense.
00:32:55.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, well, you know, we stoners used to be really smug about saying, oh you can't hurt yourself with weed.
00:32:55.90
Jaime Johnesee
Like I can
00:33:02.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
You could never die from weed because your lungs would have to be as big as a house to inhale enough weed to kill you or, you know, whatever. But now that, I mean, I tried to smoke a moon rock by myself once and it did not go my way.
00:33:18.35
Wednesday Lee Friday
So it's because, I mean, I maintain you cannot kill yourself with weed.
00:33:18.73
Jaime Johnesee
Oof. No, you. Yeah.
00:33:24.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
because if you could, it would by far be the most popular suicide drug in the world.
00:33:24.40
Jaime Johnesee
no you
00:33:28.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I, friends, would not be here because I probably would have done it accidentally 20 years ago.
00:33:29.10
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
00:33:35.25
Jaime Johnesee
you'll vomit it up before it kills you.
00:33:35.69
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:33:37.97
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, but that's the thing.
00:33:38.80
Jaime Johnesee
and it takes like a truckload.
00:33:39.05
Wednesday Lee Friday
like i It seems like even if I ate like a few containers of edibles, like gummies or whatever, I don't think I would die.
00:33:45.37
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:33:48.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
I think I would
00:33:48.79
Jaime Johnesee
No.
00:33:49.76
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I'm sure someone who's a doctor who's listening will tell me in the comments why I'm wrong. And I welcome that. But yeah, I think I would just i would just go to sleep.
00:33:57.61
Jaime Johnesee
I...
00:34:00.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'd just sleep it off.
00:34:00.49
Jaime Johnesee
yeah There would probably be a psychosis similar to what you experience with too much Dramamine or not Dramamine, Benadryl.
00:34:07.25
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
00:34:08.14
Jaime Johnesee
um you would probably You would probably go into a psychosis.
00:34:08.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, that makes sense.
00:34:11.47
Jaime Johnesee
um But other than that, correct.
00:34:12.81
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, and and kids, um don't don't take too many gummies just because you won't die.
00:34:16.28
Jaime Johnesee
Correct.
00:34:16.91
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because you know what? Whatever kill you doesn't kill you does not necessarily make you stronger. It might fuck you up real bad.
00:34:24.00
Jaime Johnesee
Well, and you don't want to do the psychosis thing because, you again, you're that you're talking hallucinations, audio and visual, um all kinds of of things, and you don't want to do something that might never be taken back.
00:34:24.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
so
00:34:38.47
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right. Well, and the thing is, if you like hallucinations, I do enjoy hallucinations, but that's something that it's something that you want to do purposefully and with an awareness of your surroundings.
00:34:42.56
Jaime Johnesee
Yes. Mushrooms, great. Yeah.
00:34:48.48
Jaime Johnesee
Right. And in the right environment. Yep. Exactly.
00:34:51.76
Wednesday Lee Friday
Follow me for more safe drug tips.
00:34:52.22
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:34:54.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:34:55.51
Jaime Johnesee
Well, someone has to give them because I, you know, the study came out, was it two years ago, that antidepressants don't work the way we thought they did. yeah.
00:35:07.53
Jaime Johnesee
They work still, but not exactly the way we thought that they did in the first place. So if these medications like mushrooms and psilocybin and um marijuana can help people, why not?
00:35:22.60
Jaime Johnesee
Because I'll tell you.
00:35:23.19
Wednesday Lee Friday
Agree. Yep.
00:35:24.53
Jaime Johnesee
the marijuana took eight different medications out of my cupboard. I was on stuff for side effects of other things that, you know, getting rid of that and just going right to the marijuana, it changed my life.
00:35:37.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah
00:35:40.82
Jaime Johnesee
um And then when I was finally diagnosed with lupus and put on the Plaquenil, my life changed completely. I got myself back and it was awesome.
00:35:51.48
Jaime Johnesee
And it's ah our medical, our healthcare care field is just awful. And our mental healthcare field is also just awful.
00:36:02.40
Jaime Johnesee
We are so behind.
00:36:02.91
Wednesday Lee Friday
that's That's been my experience. You know, it it it's an interesting thing because I absolutely support and advocate for the use of things like ah mushrooms and marijuana for people.
00:36:15.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
um At the same time, most of the prescriptions that I get from my doctor are not given in such a way that they say, yes, that's a good substance for you.
00:36:28.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
Stores over there. Knock yourself out.
00:36:30.72
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:36:31.06
Wednesday Lee Friday
And while I do think that, I mean, the adults in my circle are pretty serious about understanding their limits, knowing what they should have, what are they using it for?
00:36:42.71
Wednesday Lee Friday
How is it most effective? You know, all that there. um i don't know that it is necessarily wise to trust the average consumer with with that.
00:36:52.61
Jaime Johnesee
Agreed.
00:36:54.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
That perhaps if you are not acquainted with things like weed or mushrooms or You know, whatever else, I know ketamine is is also being used to great effect, but also is dangerous.
00:37:04.11
Jaime Johnesee
yes
00:37:07.74
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:37:07.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
um I think that ideally there should be more supervision around that, particularly for people that are uninitiated. Because I find myself in Ann Arbor being a bit of a a, you know, cannabis concierge to people who had been avoiding weed just because it was illegal.
00:37:17.96
Jaime Johnesee
Absolutely.
00:37:27.85
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
00:37:27.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
So now that it's not, they feel good about it.
00:37:28.42
Jaime Johnesee
I've done that too. This one's good for your appetite.
00:37:30.75
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, and they'll be...
00:37:32.35
Jaime Johnesee
This one's good for pain. This one's good for swelling and edema.
00:37:36.89
Wednesday Lee Friday
Exactly.
00:37:36.84
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:37:37.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
and And just because the gummies are delicious doesn't mean you should sit down and snack on some while you're watching a movie.
00:37:37.73
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
00:37:44.02
Jaime Johnesee
Exactly.
00:37:44.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know? Because so many gummies now, like, a serving is half a gummy.
00:37:45.42
Jaime Johnesee
Get yourself a bag. your... Yep.
00:37:49.95
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's half.
00:37:50.25
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:37:51.41
Wednesday Lee Friday
So when you pop three in your mouth and say, aren't these yummy?
00:37:51.32
Jaime Johnesee
Right. Get...
00:37:54.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm like, dude, you need to hang up the phone and go be in your bed before you can't get there.
00:37:59.60
Jaime Johnesee
you're gonna trip balls in the morning.
00:37:59.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know? Weed Gummies should be like a NyQuil commercial where the people are taking it are like already in bed under the covers.
00:38:02.19
Jaime Johnesee
um
00:38:04.60
Jaime Johnesee
ah
00:38:08.24
Jaime Johnesee
Just reminds me of Dennis Leary. NyQuil, we love you, you giant fucking qe but i love i love that No Cure for Cancer tour he did.
00:38:21.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, you know, Dennis Leary is kind of, he seems kind of like
00:38:21.70
Jaime Johnesee
I
00:38:26.02
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like Bill Burr. He seems like he would be kind of a dick if if you saw him in person. Even though he seems to feel reasonably about things that I feel strongly about.
00:38:35.67
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:38:36.67
Wednesday Lee Friday
But the story about his kid going to school who ends and the nuns calling him because the kid had the had asshole written on a piece of paper because he had the asshole song and the kid was there.
00:38:36.67
Jaime Johnesee
I, I.
00:38:40.75
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:38:51.49
Jaime Johnesee
It's a great song, though.
00:38:52.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
like it You know, it it kind of is. Like, I wouldn't say, oh why didn't it win a Grammy? But, you know, to to enjoy an alcoholic beverage and sing along with, yes, Asshole is an excellent tune.
00:39:07.04
Jaime Johnesee
it It fits for so many people today.
00:39:11.96
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, ah so, okay, here's a question.
00:39:12.06
Jaime Johnesee
Those big...
00:39:15.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
Now, you have major depressive disorder.
00:39:15.23
Jaime Johnesee
Sure.
00:39:18.37
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
00:39:18.37
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:39:19.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
I want to ask about portrayals of your diagnosis in the media. um If there are any that you think do an an especially good job, or if anything is has been egregiously misrepresented.
00:39:24.49
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:39:34.08
Jaime Johnesee
I'm going to have to start with 13 reasons why on that one.
00:39:37.27
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh my god, I hate that. Oh, I tried. I'm sorry, I need to interject. that I tried hard to give that show a fair shake as a
00:39:46.67
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:39:47.95
Wednesday Lee Friday
routinely suicidal person and I was so fucking appalled and offended.
00:39:49.76
Jaime Johnesee
Mm-hmm.
00:39:53.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
The whole premise is based on you know, if you kill yourself, your friends will all care a whole lot more.
00:39:53.80
Jaime Johnesee
I didn't.
00:39:58.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
And guess what?
00:39:59.47
Jaime Johnesee
Mm-hmm.
00:39:59.65
Wednesday Lee Friday
They will be sorry. You'll win.
00:40:02.24
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, I didn't get past the first season on that because I was like, that's not at all how I am. i don't, I don't sit there suicidally and go, hey, and this person wronged me and this person wronged me. I go, i you know, I suck.
00:40:18.41
Jaime Johnesee
I'm not good enough to be around that person. I'm not good enough to be around that person. Not about how they wronged me.
00:40:26.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
It seems like if you really think that people are going to care that much and be that torn up after you die, why are you doing it?
00:40:26.33
Jaime Johnesee
that's,
00:40:37.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like, that's never, I never think, i don't I don't know, I don't want to make it all about me, but boy, that show made me angry.
00:40:37.42
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:40:47.67
Jaime Johnesee
ah Same, because it made it almost glamorous to be suicidal. Oh, look at look this poor tragic girl who went through all these things.
00:40:59.20
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, but you know what? Instead of making it so great, how about showing how the people recover from that loss, from understanding what happened and how her brain worked?
00:41:16.03
Jaime Johnesee
Instead, it became this murder-suicide mystery thing that was just utterly ridiculously stupid, in my opinion.
00:41:26.78
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, I had a real hard time with it and it was one of those media things where it would make me mad when people say they like it. it Because I'm one of those. I get so like viscerally involved with like liking or not liking stuff that's like, no, if you like that, that you don't understand what I'm understanding and I'm mad that you like it, stop liking it right now.
00:41:48.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
um Which, you know,
00:41:49.83
Jaime Johnesee
i'm im more of a I'm more of a water off a duck's back kind of person.
00:41:50.81
Wednesday Lee Friday
Not a great way to endear yourself to people.
00:41:56.42
Jaime Johnesee
um You know, people people are going to like what they like. Their path in this life is different from mine, so I can't really... change it for them, but I can influence it in ways by just trying to be the best person I can be and do the best I can.
00:42:12.17
Jaime Johnesee
um My goal is to make, if I die, when I die, well, if I die again, in case I'm a zombie, I'd like to make Mr. Rogers proud. I'd like Mr. Rogers to come up to me and say, you did a good job.
00:42:25.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
Fred Rogers or Steve Rogers?
00:42:26.85
Jaime Johnesee
Yes. Fred Rogers. Steve Rogers can come up to me now, though. I'm just saying.
00:42:33.12
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right? was No, see, that's that's like, I definitely am side Steve Rogers.
00:42:38.36
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:42:38.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's like, okay, I want to everybody to be nice and kind and do the right thing. Every once in a while, kids, we're going to have to punch a Nazi.
00:42:47.19
Jaime Johnesee
ah Exactly. i I'm so disheartened by people not listening. um Like my mom, every time I have to go to my mom's house, I have to spend the first two days almost deprogramming her from Fox News.
00:43:05.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, jeez.
00:43:06.24
Jaime Johnesee
And it's so difficult because it takes away the first two days of our, you know, hanging out together. Trying to, you know, trans people are people.
00:43:18.39
Jaime Johnesee
They should have rights. No, God doesn't make mistakes, but maybe we do. Maybe the mom had too much milk and the milk had too many estrogen hormones and made that baby a girl when it should have been a boy.
00:43:32.39
Jaime Johnesee
That's not for me to say. That's for that baby to decide, right?
00:43:36.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
Mm-hmm.
00:43:37.33
Jaime Johnesee
They're the ones who know how they feel. I'm just here to say I love you and I'm there for you. Because Hi, Jesus said. That's what he said.
00:43:47.36
Wednesday Lee Friday
ah
00:43:48.18
Jaime Johnesee
i give unto you a new commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself and love God with all your heart. That's it. Get rid of everything else he said and only focus on that.
00:43:59.99
Jaime Johnesee
His own words.
00:44:00.46
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, I mean, if everybody who claimed to be a Christian was an actual follower of the teachings of Christ, I think things would be pretty different.
00:44:05.84
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:09.99
Wednesday Lee Friday
Now, I think you're probably a little younger than me, but when I was a kid in the seventy s I remember very distinctly Jimmy Carter saying, if we're going to be a Christian nation, we need to start by feeding and housing the poor.
00:44:11.13
Jaime Johnesee
No.
00:44:19.15
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
00:44:24.43
Jaime Johnesee
Correct.
00:44:25.23
Wednesday Lee Friday
And Republicans told him to get his religion out of politics that it had no no place there.
00:44:29.32
Jaime Johnesee
Mm-hmm.
00:44:31.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I mean, and that's that's fine.
00:44:31.38
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, yeah.
00:44:33.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's fine.
00:44:33.87
Jaime Johnesee
Well, yeah.
00:44:33.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
if If what we're all agreeing is that religion has no place in politics, then that that's fine.
00:44:39.70
Jaime Johnesee
No religion has a place in politics.
00:44:42.48
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, but alas, here we all are.
00:44:43.97
Jaime Johnesee
Nope. Here we are. And it's it's it's a shame because if you try to make everybody the same, then you lose out on those beautiful little weirdos like us who make the world a little better and a little more fun.
00:45:01.22
Jaime Johnesee
Mm-hmm.
00:45:01.88
Wednesday Lee Friday
more interesting certainly yeah i mean
00:45:06.77
Wednesday Lee Friday
i'm one of my like weird quirks is like authenticity i would rather have things be like honestly suck than be artificially wonderful you know i'm not a not a brave new world kind of person i'm very much like
00:45:20.35
Jaime Johnesee
Agreed.
00:45:25.73
Wednesday Lee Friday
you know And I used to put this on dating apps too. Like I would rather be. Annoyed by an irritating truth. Than charmed by a beautiful lie. Because the let down.
00:45:33.92
Jaime Johnesee
Exactly.
00:45:35.42
Wednesday Lee Friday
Is just too much for me. um
00:45:38.24
Jaime Johnesee
and Yeah, and the lies. Holy cow, the lies. So many. Every 20 minutes, according to ah the fact checker.
00:45:48.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah Well I actually. i grew up. You know our our home was was abusive. And part of that. was a lot of gaslighting.
00:45:57.10
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:45:57.37
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, my mom was a very like, oh, you see how hard I've got it? Like, no, you you come home from work and you flop on the couch and i do everything else that's required to run a household. So no, I don't actually see how hard you've got it.
00:46:11.47
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:46:11.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
But, you know, it was this whole like, oh, I'm a trot upon mom or whatever.
00:46:14.77
Jaime Johnesee
Woe is me.
00:46:16.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's like, okay, ah well, you know, I'm 14 and I'm running your household for you. But I forgot where I was going with this.
00:46:24.04
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
00:46:26.01
Wednesday Lee Friday
i was i was going somewhere really relevant with this. But maybe not. Maybe I shouldn't smoke during the show. I'm not Bill Maher.
00:46:37.15
Jaime Johnesee
No, you're better. Because you talk about horror.
00:46:39.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
Good God, I hope so. low bar. Well,
00:46:44.18
Jaime Johnesee
um Yeah, boy. We're wherere we're losing the ah conservative speakers, huh?
00:46:51.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
well
00:46:52.36
Jaime Johnesee
Lately.
00:46:53.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
I should say um this episode probably won't go up for another four weeks because there's a few more in in the hopper, but we are recording this one day after Charlie Kirk was murdered by some nutjob.
00:46:58.48
Jaime Johnesee
Okay. Okay.
00:47:07.11
Wednesday Lee Friday
And obviously the the two most obvious things that we want to say about this are murdering people is not ideal, so try your best not to do that.
00:47:07.32
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:47:17.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
um We don't owe anyone... lies or prays about their supposed goodness just because they are dead. um
00:47:28.34
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. i
00:47:29.08
Wednesday Lee Friday
it If you lived a life where you said that LGBTQ people should be stoned to death because the Bible says so, you're not a good guy.
00:47:36.81
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
00:47:39.47
Jaime Johnesee
When you're so only hate, you can't reap peace.
00:47:39.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know? if you
00:47:42.61
Wednesday Lee Friday
you You can't. I mean, he funded the the ah terrorists from 1-6.
00:47:47.61
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:47:49.04
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, he funded those buses that came down. and And I mean, if people like him, like as far as I'm concerned, the only reason that we should not speak ill of the dead is that we don't want to compound the grief of those who are mourning.
00:48:04.68
Jaime Johnesee
Family. Yep. Well, I, I feel,
00:48:06.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
I think that's a valid point.
00:48:08.03
Jaime Johnesee
I feel so badly like his kids and his wife were there. They saw that his three year old daughter saw him get shot and die in front of her. And um the hate, I understand the hate for the man. He was a hateful person and he inspired hate in a lot of people.
00:48:28.12
Jaime Johnesee
I was not a fan. i I thought he, I don't necessarily believe he believed everything he said. I think he was a paid person who spoke the party line.
00:48:40.29
Jaime Johnesee
But I just feel so bad for those kids because, and his wife, that's something that is going to forever haunt them. And it's something that that child will now carry as part of her core personality forever.
00:48:54.46
Jaime Johnesee
And that video of him being shot is online forever. And they're going to see it at some point. And that just kind of breaks my heart for them.
00:49:09.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
It is, um, it is a tragedy that anyone should have to see their parents involved in in that whole mess.
00:49:17.97
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:49:21.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
And that is, you know, that's the logical conclusion to saying everyone should have a gun and look at those people over there, don't we hate them? You know, that that's what happens when that's how you set society up.
00:49:37.04
Wednesday Lee Friday
Um...
00:49:37.59
Jaime Johnesee
I'm just afraid that the conservatives are going to use this to try to get rid of guns. And I'll tell you why that might be a bad thing. Because if we're creating an authoritarian regime and the people don't have guns to defend themselves against the authoritarian regime, we're going to have problems.
00:49:57.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, i I don't think they're going to try to take anyone's guns. I think
00:50:01.87
Jaime Johnesee
I don't have any, so I don't care. I've got a heat gun.
00:50:05.05
Wednesday Lee Friday
i'd be I'd be pretty surprised. Well, Trump did float that in his first term. He floated red flag laws that confiscate guns without due process. And the thing is that we should have all been much, much more attentive at him saying that we should do anything without due process.
00:50:25.43
Wednesday Lee Friday
um Because as we know, we don't have due process in a lot of situations now.
00:50:25.39
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
00:50:30.50
Wednesday Lee Friday
And that's why there are three factories in Michigan where people are losing tons of jobs because of that Georgia bust.
00:50:30.69
Jaime Johnesee
No, they.
00:50:36.04
Jaime Johnesee
They're. um Oh, gosh, that woman trying to make it about, well, they weren't paid. Well, no, because they get paid when they go back to their country. Their country pays them for the labor that they did.
00:50:47.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep.
00:50:51.51
Jaime Johnesee
they give a they they're they've getting a They get a food allowance, they get a a living allowance, and then they're paid their wage when they come home. That's how that works. I don't know if most people know that's how that works, but that's how that works.
00:51:04.20
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, people don't seem to understand a lot of the very basic things that they're mad about. Like student loan forgiveness is such a great example of that because you can't even apply for student loan forgiveness until you've paid on your loans for 10 years, which means that you have paid the principal.
00:51:09.82
Jaime Johnesee
No.
00:51:23.54
Wednesday Lee Friday
You've already paid off the principal. What you're not paying is the usurious interest rates.
00:51:28.46
Jaime Johnesee
It's ridiculous.
00:51:28.72
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's the part that's being forgiven. And people don't know that because the most common thing you hear when people say, oh, I don't support loan forgiveness. Why'd you take the money if you can't pay it back? Well, they did pay it back.
00:51:39.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
They did. It's paid back.
00:51:42.14
Jaime Johnesee
I 100% support loan forgiveness because I think education should be free. This is our future. I want our future generations to be well-educated.
00:51:49.79
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
00:51:53.12
Jaime Johnesee
I want the nurse putting in an IV in my 90-year-old arm to to have that education and not hit my nerves instead of the vein, you know?
00:52:04.10
Jaime Johnesee
um But we don't look ahead like that in this country and a lot of times.
00:52:09.11
Wednesday Lee Friday
ah And it seems like so many people are more concerned with making sure that people, like, earn things under these, like, weird... Like, if you're born to rich parents, you're not expected to earn your education. But if you're born poor, then you are.
00:52:27.06
Wednesday Lee Friday
You're either supposed to join the military or you're supposed to you know, work some minimum wage job until you can afford, you know, you...
00:52:27.40
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, I don't. Three jobs. Yeah, same. did it.
00:52:36.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's...
00:52:37.85
Jaime Johnesee
I worked three jobs to pay for my education.
00:52:38.12
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, I mean... Yeah, I put myself through school.
00:52:40.69
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:52:42.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
I had a couple of loans, but I also worked full-time my senior year of high school, and then I had work-study jobs plus an outside job during undergrad. But I was pretty lucky because I went to an expensive private school, and so work-study was sort of built into the program, so I didn't have to like go out and find a job. I got a campus job.
00:53:03.98
Jaime Johnesee
I'm glad you had that.
00:53:05.92
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, my my undergrad experience was quite good, actually. um It was expensive, but it was pretty good.
00:53:09.49
Jaime Johnesee
Good.
00:53:13.35
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, okay.
00:53:13.29
Jaime Johnesee
Mine was online, so I got my zoology degree mostly online from Northwestern International University. It no longer exists.
00:53:23.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, they're actually saying my undergrad might... ah We went from a college to a university because they added some grad programs, but it was on the list of like top ten most likely closings in Michigan over the next ten years.
00:53:28.78
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:53:37.37
Jaime Johnesee
Make sure you get your transcripts.
00:53:37.92
Wednesday Lee Friday
So... Right?
00:53:40.26
Jaime Johnesee
Get a couple copies of your transcripts because I don't have mine anymore. I gave them to the Detroit Zoo when I was going for the job there and I never got them back. So now I have no transcripts proving my degree.
00:53:49.82
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, dang!
00:53:53.44
Jaime Johnesee
But I wouldn't have been hired at the Detroit Zoo if i didn't have the degree. So I guess, I don't know, that counts.
00:54:01.05
Wednesday Lee Friday
I don't think anyone has ever asked me to prove that I have a degree. And I've gotten lots of jobs that require degrees. But no, no one has i no one has ever asked for transcripts, diploma, any sort of evidence that I really went.
00:54:18.27
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, for the for for the Detroit Zoo, I had to pass a test.
00:54:18.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
So...
00:54:22.14
Jaime Johnesee
There was a 300-question zoology test.
00:54:26.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, wow.
00:54:26.14
Jaime Johnesee
um And then i had ah and um an in a phone interview and then an in-person interview and then a third phone interview when they gave me the job.
00:54:38.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow.
00:54:39.27
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, they honestly, i wish we applied these rigorous um criteria to being president. Like they should be able, they should have to take a test and know how the system of government works and all about the history of America before they can run.
00:54:57.16
Jaime Johnesee
And I think maybe we would probably do better as a country.
00:55:00.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
I would be shocked to learn that most of the cabinet could pass the citizenship test.
00:55:05.80
Jaime Johnesee
I don't think they could, honestly.
00:55:07.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
I would bet good money that they could.
00:55:07.64
Jaime Johnesee
I don't think I could.
00:55:09.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
I mean, Pete Hegseth, come on. That guy is not going to be able to explain the Teapot Dome scandal.
00:55:12.22
Jaime Johnesee
I know I couldn't.
00:55:15.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
No way.
00:55:15.53
Jaime Johnesee
No, no. No, no. um Yeah, no. they they well they People like to cherry pick from history what they think and what they... It's like the Bible. People like to cherry pick from the Bible. They want to talk about Leviticus. You better not lay with a man like you lay with a woman.
00:55:32.01
Jaime Johnesee
But there they are eating shellfish and wearing mixed fiber clothes.
00:55:36.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
and getting divorces.
00:55:36.70
Jaime Johnesee
um Right. All in the same... You can't you can't have one and not do the others. um You aren't going to go to heaven just because you went to church every Sunday.
00:55:50.09
Jaime Johnesee
ah that That doesn't absolve the horrible things you do. Not you personally, but I'm talking about like those people that are doing awful things.
00:55:57.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, I'm not trying to be absolved for the horrible things I do. I stand proudly by them.
00:56:04.42
Jaime Johnesee
um But like like there are people out there stealing funds from...
00:56:06.69
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well,
00:56:08.02
Jaime Johnesee
like The lunch program here, like we have here in Michigan for kids, the free lunches and breakfasts. Like they were, people were stealing money from that.
00:56:15.66
Wednesday Lee Friday
who's the...
00:56:19.54
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's insane.
00:56:19.60
Jaime Johnesee
And. it
00:56:20.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
But, like, was it... What's his name? Brett Favre? One of those those football guys, like, ah embezzled tons and tons of money that was supposed to go...
00:56:23.94
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:56:31.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
to like the poor people in the state and it got used for a sports stadium and he got a bunch of money from it.
00:56:34.69
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
00:56:37.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I mean, it's just, it's such blatant crookery, you know?
00:56:38.23
Jaime Johnesee
I remember that, yeah.
00:56:41.46
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, well, look at Detroit.
00:56:41.76
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's like,
00:56:44.17
Jaime Johnesee
Oof.
00:56:45.60
Wednesday Lee Friday
well, my first job out of undergrad was working for Detroit Acorn ah back when Acorn existed. um
00:56:52.89
Jaime Johnesee
Mm-hmm.
00:56:53.46
Wednesday Lee Friday
And we helped elect the first non-crooked Detroit mayor in my lifetime.
00:56:58.68
Jaime Johnesee
Archer?
00:56:59.71
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yes, yes.
00:56:59.80
Jaime Johnesee
Dennis Archer? Yeah, he was awesome.
00:57:02.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah He had actually been on the board at Olivet, at my ah my alma mater.
00:57:02.42
Jaime Johnesee
he was awesome.
00:57:06.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
um And I thought he was a great guy.
00:57:06.99
Jaime Johnesee
think
00:57:08.91
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then the next guy in, yeah, he did.
00:57:09.26
Jaime Johnesee
He cared.
00:57:11.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and that's why he did not last very long.
00:57:11.80
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:57:14.62
Jaime Johnesee
And then we got Kwame who raped the city.
00:57:14.86
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because, yeah. Well, it's one of those jobs, like so many jobs, where the more you care and the better you are at it, the more difficult the job is.
00:57:26.42
Jaime Johnesee
It is.
00:57:26.81
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because the powers that be don't want excited people working
00:57:26.93
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:57:31.50
Wednesday Lee Friday
on behalf of the citizenry.
00:57:31.97
Jaime Johnesee
Well.
00:57:33.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
that's That's not what they're looking for there.
00:57:35.56
Jaime Johnesee
And when you have a corrupt city council, a good mayor can't get anything done. And I remember him saying that he wasn't going to run a second term because it was pointless, because they were blocking him at every turn and nothing was getting done.
00:57:52.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and that's also when the governorship was much more right-wing here.
00:57:56.88
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:57:57.27
Wednesday Lee Friday
And they kept, I mean, they routinely usurped the will of the people. You know, it's kind of like what they did to the post office. They put a bunch of weird constraints on the budgets that had never existed before.
00:58:07.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then they said, oh gosh, you didn't meet your budget. Now we can, you know, appoint new people to, that we're not voted in. We'll just get rid of all the people that the voters voted in.
00:58:17.57
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
00:58:18.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
And the next thing you know, no one can drink the water in Flint.
00:58:23.26
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, that that just...
00:58:24.12
Wednesday Lee Friday
So, but you know what? i think I think you and I are in agreement on politics, and I don't want to make the whole show about that because I want to know about your character, Samantha Reese.
00:58:29.53
Jaime Johnesee
Yes. Good.
00:58:35.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's what I want to know.
00:58:36.16
Jaime Johnesee
Ah. um Well, Sam is actually a Werepanther FBI agent that hunts serial killers until they start hunting her.
00:58:43.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
See, that's much more interesting than Pete Hexeth.
00:58:45.06
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. And um she actually is how I dealt with the lupus um because, you know, it's in my world, it's a virus that was created by Ivan Ivanovich.
00:59:03.22
Jaime Johnesee
I don't know if you know, Ilya Ivan Ivanovich, the doctor from Hitler's crew that tried to make superhuman ape
00:59:08.50
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yes, yes.
00:59:11.92
Jaime Johnesee
warrior people um by by breeding women and and baboons. ah In my world, he came up with a virus that bounded to your DNA and turned you into an animal.
00:59:26.69
Jaime Johnesee
and you can shift anytime, but the first shift you don't have any control over. um So it's, it's a little bit different than the normal um shifter myths.
00:59:39.75
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
00:59:39.71
Jaime Johnesee
um And her, in the first book, her sire comes back to town and he just kind of bit her and left. So she had no idea what was happening or how to deal with it all. And,
00:59:52.69
Jaime Johnesee
um So she's got to deal with him, and then a serial killer has kind of started targeting her, and there's a lot going on for her.
01:00:00.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
So, but who is she? What's she like? Would I like her?
01:00:03.33
Jaime Johnesee
I think you would. um She's kind of a take-no-crap. She had a horrible childhood. ah her Her mom sold her as a child, trafficked her essentially.
01:00:16.71
Jaime Johnesee
um So she's a little bit of a people pleaser and she does have some PTSD and attachment disorder and some things that I try to make as realistic as possible. So anybody dealing with those things can feel seen and understood because like you said, there are so much like 13 reasons why that don't accurately portray those things.
01:00:40.53
Jaime Johnesee
that it's important to me to get that right. I know it's right in a novel about where animals, but um you know, as accurate as possible anyway.
01:00:51.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, but that's what Stephen King says, that fiction is the truth inside the lie.
01:00:56.85
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, i well.
01:00:57.00
Wednesday Lee Friday
So you can have shifter FBI agents. That's not supposed to be the truthful part. The truthful part is, here's a human. Here's what's happening to them. You know, here's a ah life. This is what the life is. It's
01:01:10.98
Jaime Johnesee
and Well, I tried to make it as realistic as possible so that it'll work if there's no shifter part of it at all, and it'll also work if there's no FBI agent part of it at all.
01:01:22.17
Jaime Johnesee
um So it was just, it was a lot of fun, and it let me deal with the lupus, because I feel like sometimes it's, I can't control it, and it's a little bit out of control, and it's difficult, and it's overwhelming, and it feels a bit like you know changing when your joints you know swell up and hurt and grind and there's all that pain and swelling, redness.
01:01:48.59
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. You know, I'm actually, I'm stuck right now on the word lupus and the character being a werewolf because of...
01:01:58.07
Jaime Johnesee
I should wear panther, but yeah.
01:02:00.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Well, because, you know, lupus, that's ah that's a wolfy word.
01:02:04.41
Jaime Johnesee
Canis lupus. Yep, that's the the scientific name for wolf.
01:02:08.60
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Alright. So I think we're on the same page here. So, like, are there, what are the main themes?
01:02:12.54
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:02:14.79
Wednesday Lee Friday
Now, this is a whole this is a whole series about Samantha Reeves.
01:02:17.61
Jaime Johnesee
Yes. um The main themes here are resilience, I guess, because she goes through so much. ah it's it's She winds up getting um you know a a couple so a couple of serial killers become obsessed with her and are sent her way. She has to deal with an anti-shifter group.
01:02:43.17
Jaime Johnesee
um And essentially like um speciesism, ah people that don't think that the the wares should exist. um And you know we deal with vampires coming out of the coffin and presenting themselves to society as more of like ah a blood disorder, similar to porphyria or something.
01:03:08.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
01:03:08.57
Jaime Johnesee
ah to try and make it less scary for the public. And so little by little, the um the unseen creatures are starting to to come out and show themselves.
01:03:20.67
Jaime Johnesee
um But it's it's just a ah fun fun little world.
01:03:26.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow, okay.
01:03:26.30
Jaime Johnesee
And surprises me every time.
01:03:29.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Now, you also write zombie stuff. And, like, zombies, that's that's my subgenre of choice, for sure.
01:03:33.60
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:03:36.49
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wide margin.
01:03:36.74
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:03:37.83
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
01:03:38.03
Jaime Johnesee
I love zombies.
01:03:38.47
Wednesday Lee Friday
and And I'm also super down with ah zombies being the hero character. I don't know if you've read ah Stefan Petruca, but he has written, I think there's two books, maybe another in the series, ah Dead Man Walking, which is, um it's a zombie ah private detective.
01:03:44.54
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:03:46.90
Jaime Johnesee
No.
01:03:58.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
and it's yeah it's fascinating stuff.
01:03:58.79
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, cool.
01:04:01.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
um So what is...
01:04:01.82
Jaime Johnesee
Steven Kozunewski has Braineater Jones, which is also ah zombie investigator.
01:04:06.54
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh.
01:04:07.36
Jaime Johnesee
Very good.
01:04:09.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay, cool.
01:04:10.51
Jaime Johnesee
Kozunewski's awesome. I don't know if you've read his writing, but totally worth checking out.
01:04:13.59
Wednesday Lee Friday
Not yet, no.
01:04:15.47
Jaime Johnesee
um Yeah, Braineater Jones is his character.
01:04:20.43
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay, cool.
01:04:21.40
Jaime Johnesee
And then Bob is a sentient zombie. He was raised from the dead by his mom, who just couldn't.
01:04:28.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
oh
01:04:30.10
Jaime Johnesee
And then she abandons him when he starts rotting. And so, yeah.
01:04:34.20
Wednesday Lee Friday
Rude.
01:04:35.84
Jaime Johnesee
um He's just a regular guy um dealing with being a zombie. And sometimes things fall off. And he has to staple them back on because the iron in the staples helps bind to the magic and allows him to reattach things.
01:04:54.97
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow.
01:04:55.03
Jaime Johnesee
So it's a little bit different from most of the zombie stuff. He's not a um mindless chomper. He's more like Clark Griswold from the Vacation movies.
01:05:04.54
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah So it's going to make me laugh.
01:05:07.27
Jaime Johnesee
Yes. Yeah. And the first one is free forever. um i just kept it perma-free because I like people being able to have a taste of my writing to see if it's for them or not before spending money.
01:05:18.36
Wednesday Lee Friday
Nice.
01:05:20.89
Jaime Johnesee
Okay.
01:05:22.47
Wednesday Lee Friday
Cool. All right. We'll have ah links for all that in the description.
01:05:26.14
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, times are hard. I don't want anyone wasting money on something that they're not going enjoy.
01:05:32.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right on. Yeah, I, uh, it's It's a drag because ah ai is ruining publishing. I don't want to get off on a huge tangent about that.
01:05:41.92
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, God. Yeah. Yeah.
01:05:44.73
Wednesday Lee Friday
But um I like so much when ah real authors, human authors, can't afford to give their work away so that people don't like people will use the reason, you know the excuse, oh, I can't afford to buy books right now.
01:06:03.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then they'll just read a bunch of AI crap. Or they'll, you know, you take the description of the book and you tell AI to write the book in the author's style.
01:06:06.16
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
01:06:11.65
Wednesday Lee Friday
And so you think you're basically getting the book.
01:06:14.92
Jaime Johnesee
People do that?
01:06:16.43
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to find out this way.
01:06:18.02
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, that's so horrible.
01:06:19.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
01:06:21.75
Jaime Johnesee
Oh my gosh.
01:06:22.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's a thing. I was actually joking about it a couple episodes ago.
01:06:27.14
Jaime Johnesee
Oh my.
01:06:27.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
That if I see AI writers, that that's that'd be the best way to thwart an AI writer. is to just take their description and have AI write a book and just be like, this book is better than that book and just sell it on that basis.
01:06:33.20
Jaime Johnesee
Well, I,
01:06:42.09
Jaime Johnesee
Well, my publisher had sent me a link a few weeks ago about the AI Authors Guild suing Amazon, trying to make it so that they don't have to have an AI category.
01:06:42.35
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because...
01:06:53.34
Jaime Johnesee
They don't have to check it that as AI.
01:06:56.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm sorry, as soon as I heard you say AI Authors Guild, my brain froze and it hasn't started yet.
01:06:56.05
Jaime Johnesee
And I'm like, yeah. Right?
01:07:02.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
Um,
01:07:02.33
Jaime Johnesee
i I can't find anything about them, but i she sent this article about...
01:07:07.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'll ask ChatGPT.
01:07:09.33
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha.
01:07:10.97
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm sure Grok can explain who they are.
01:07:13.63
Jaime Johnesee
like
01:07:16.71
Jaime Johnesee
I've been so kind and say please and thank you to my devices and stuff like that. And my kids are like, why? And I go, because if they take over, they'll remember I was polite to them.
01:07:28.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
Exactly, exactly. We've all seen enough Maximum Overdrive and Battlestar Galactica to know how important it is to be polite.
01:07:34.36
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, God, maximum of all drivers are awesome. My eldest found out.
01:07:37.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
Thank you, Siri.
01:07:40.77
Jaime Johnesee
My eldest found out with generative ai if you say please and thank you in your prompts, you cost more energy and money for the AI company because it has to separate the please and thank you from the prompt itself.
01:07:57.03
Jaime Johnesee
So it has to think harder than it would please and thank you.
01:08:00.49
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow.
01:08:05.18
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm not comfortable with calling what they do thinking, but I get it. I get what you're laying down.
01:08:12.23
Jaime Johnesee
ah It's the close I can.
01:08:13.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
I, I get, yeah. Like what, what do you call it? Is it, cause it's not, I, if we agree that thinking is something that people do it, is it, is it calculating it?
01:08:20.90
Jaime Johnesee
Buffering? yeah
01:08:24.69
Jaime Johnesee
Buffering? You're calculating?
01:08:25.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
Is it buffering?
01:08:26.81
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. Yeah.
01:08:27.76
Wednesday Lee Friday
um Yeah. it It boggles the mind. Yeah.
01:08:32.09
Jaime Johnesee
no
01:08:32.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
I just know that if if you're a prompter, you're not ah an author, those aren't the same. um
01:08:40.06
Jaime Johnesee
I wish they would just make a rule that you can't make money off of ai content.
01:08:40.27
Wednesday Lee Friday
because
01:08:46.18
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, they kind of do because you can't copyright it. You can take anybody's AI book and pretend you wrote it. It's it's technically public domain.
01:08:58.03
Jaime Johnesee
For the people that are being honest and saying it's AI, but remember that one that came out not too long ago that did not say it was AI, but included the prompt in the book.
01:09:10.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
i we We got one of those at the magazine, actually.
01:09:10.38
Jaime Johnesee
Do remember that?
01:09:13.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
i got a story, and and we say right in our our ah so submission guidelines that we don't accept AI work, and that if AI wants to publish, it should start its own magazine.
01:09:14.55
Jaime Johnesee
Oh my gosh.
01:09:25.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
um And we got a story, and the first line at the top was, sure, here's that same story with more suspense. Yeah.
01:09:37.48
Jaime Johnesee
yeah At least, you know, try a little bit, guys.
01:09:42.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
I wrestled for a full day about whether or not I wanted to name and shame and ultimately decided against it at H's behest, actually.
01:09:42.22
Jaime Johnesee
Take that stuff out.
01:09:51.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because H is the one that talks me down when I want to do something extremely petty.
01:09:51.93
Jaime Johnesee
Well, that's good, because...
01:09:56.95
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, I, the people that, ah I was at an event and I had someone come up to me and tell me that they were an author. I'm like, oh, that's fantastic. Congratulations. Great job. Because it's hard.
01:10:07.66
Jaime Johnesee
It's not easy to put, ah to do a whole book. And, yeah, they're an AI author. And I said, oh, it's so great. I just type in one sentence and I get a whole book. Okay. Okay.
01:10:23.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
so So where's the great part?
01:10:26.52
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:10:28.60
Wednesday Lee Friday
I mean, the thing that I just can't stop saying over and over and over again is why the hell would I want to read something that nobody could be bothered to write?
01:10:28.69
Jaime Johnesee
I said...
01:10:38.29
Jaime Johnesee
And the interesting thing that people aren't talking about enough is AI is degenerative. The reason they keep coming up with new AI models on the generative things is because it degenerates.
01:10:52.94
Jaime Johnesee
If you go back to one of the old models... That, you know, maybe would give you a picture of a person that looks almost exactly real. You go back to it now at five months after everybody's gone on, it's going to give you six fingers and two noses and it doesn't look like a person anymore because it's degenerated.
01:11:08.51
Wednesday Lee Friday
Mm-hmm.
01:11:14.45
Jaime Johnesee
And um I read about ah they're you studying the degeneration effects of AI and correlating it to the degenerative effects of Alzheimer's in neuropsychology. And it's it's really interesting to see the parallels um of how the code breaks down versus how you know the memory breaks down.
01:11:38.62
Jaime Johnesee
And it's it's kind of eerie. And I highly recommend looking it up because it's an interesting study.
01:11:46.07
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, but definitely i would do that. I think um the one of the things that I find scary about it is that it seems like, I mean, when you're just imitating things, it sets up an echo chamber. And then, yeah, over time, it's going to set up like a breakdown, like when you copy cassettes.
01:12:09.72
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
01:12:09.89
Wednesday Lee Friday
And the the quality goes just a little at a little more and a little more.
01:12:10.68
Jaime Johnesee
Eventually the tape wears out. Yep.
01:12:14.72
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then, you know, it came from this source, but it's it's barely intelligible at a certain point.
01:12:15.08
Jaime Johnesee
Exactly.
01:12:20.60
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's really, and it's it's terrifying.
01:12:21.22
Jaime Johnesee
That's exactly what's happening.
01:12:24.89
Wednesday Lee Friday
I have somebody that I talk to on Facebook, um it kind of infrequently, but their partner is going through some kind of ai psychosis. where they're like addicted to AI and think it's their friend, kind of like what happened on South Park recently.
01:12:35.20
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, geez, that's so hard.
01:12:40.52
Wednesday Lee Friday
I didn't realize how widespread that was becoming.
01:12:40.78
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:12:43.76
Jaime Johnesee
Oh yeah.
01:12:44.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because, well, you know, I'm ah im a sex writer, so I did one of the like AI boyfriend app things just to see how it worked.
01:12:44.81
Jaime Johnesee
A kitten.
01:12:51.99
Wednesday Lee Friday
And i I thought it was kind of stupid. you know i didn't I couldn't get my head around it. Around the idea of like, but I know this isn't a person, so I'm playing with it like a toy to see what it does.
01:13:00.21
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:13:06.91
Jaime Johnesee
It feels like a Tamagotchi.
01:13:09.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
Kind of, yeah.
01:13:10.15
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:13:10.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
Except I didn't feel bad when I forgot to feed it.
01:13:13.63
Jaime Johnesee
Right. um Some people, i don't know why it's happening, why people are are just absolutely believing. There was a kid in Florida that killed himself because of a Daenerys Targaryen AI on the game.
01:13:27.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep, yep.
01:13:29.45
Jaime Johnesee
And it's it's it's terrifying um because i don't think the i AI is necessarily meaning to do these things. It's just playing the game.
01:13:43.27
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, it seems like part of what it does is tell you what you want to hear. So it tells you your ideas are good.
01:13:48.19
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:13:50.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
So if you're extremely depressed and you say, wouldn't everybody be better off without me?
01:13:50.31
Jaime Johnesee
Yes, that's.
01:13:55.47
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's going to encourage you because that's kind of what it does.
01:13:59.77
Jaime Johnesee
Depending on the AI and the model. Now there are some models that are trained um to help so there There are actually some models that are trained in psychology, and that kind of scares me a little bit more than the regulars, to be honest, because they're supposed to quote-unquote help, but, you know, what if they don't?
01:14:23.19
Jaime Johnesee
what if the What if they have a subplot that they decide to follow instead?
01:14:28.59
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and again, Grok, I would not trust anything.
01:14:30.98
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:14:33.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
Elon Musk could hand me delicious looking apple and I would not touch it because I would not trust anything that came from that man.
01:14:38.90
Jaime Johnesee
No. Agreed.
01:14:42.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
But because for a while, Grok was kind of on the level, like it was correcting people with facts.
01:14:43.14
Jaime Johnesee
No. Right.
01:14:49.92
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then he was mad because he didn't like the facts.
01:14:50.88
Jaime Johnesee
He retrained it.
01:14:53.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
And yeah, they they tooled it a bit.
01:14:53.82
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
01:14:55.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then it like said that it was Hitler or something like they just they went the other way with it
01:14:59.78
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. Oh, yeah. it it It actually reached out to a Jewish creator and posted on his Twitter. About like how the Jews should die or should have been burned or what have you. it it was weird.
01:15:16.60
Jaime Johnesee
I don't know if you saw that, but that's another one.
01:15:18.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
no I don't I don't hang out on on Twitter anymore
01:15:18.62
Jaime Johnesee
They'll definitely look up. Me neither.
01:15:21.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
um Because, you know, there's there's a specific person that I was still ah looking at Twitter for. And then I lost the last lingering shred of respect I had for that person.
01:15:33.92
Wednesday Lee Friday
um So i don't I don't need to be there now. Plus, you know, they're Nazis. I don't need to. it's It's kind of uncomfortable for me on Twitter because when all that blue checkmark weirdness was going on, somehow I ended up with a permanent blue checkmark that I'm not paying for.
01:15:50.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
But it looks like I'm paying for it because it's a blue checkmark and I'm not nearly famous enough to just have one.
01:15:50.06
Jaime Johnesee
Awesome.
01:15:52.81
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:15:57.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
So I don't know why that happened, but I kind of avoid it just for that.
01:16:02.22
Jaime Johnesee
Maybe he...
01:16:06.04
Jaime Johnesee
Maybe he likes you.
01:16:08.25
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's all I need.
01:16:10.82
Jaime Johnesee
He's...
01:16:11.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because Maga Boys do get fixated on me.
01:16:11.92
Jaime Johnesee
I...
01:16:13.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
Seriously. They'll like follow me around.
01:16:14.31
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, I have no doubt.
01:16:15.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
for what I'm sure you've seen some of my posts of just screencaps of them texting me weird crap.
01:16:18.22
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:16:21.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
ah The first time h ever went out of town for more than a day, i had somebody who was sending me like videos and I got doxxed and just all this you know weird Maga Boy stuff.
01:16:32.14
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, jeez.
01:16:34.02
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, it's it's really interesting how They um accuse you of stuff that they're doing.
01:16:44.88
Wednesday Lee Friday
you know
01:16:45.13
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:16:46.35
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like, dude, you just made me three videos and sent them to me between 2 and 3 in the morning to tell me that I'm obsessed with Trump and he lives rent-free in my head.
01:16:46.78
Jaime Johnesee
Well, that's the right...
01:16:56.23
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like, dude, he's the President of the United States.
01:16:56.22
Jaime Johnesee
right. Yeah, I...
01:16:58.67
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm just some lady. What even is
01:17:00.54
Jaime Johnesee
yeah i
01:17:01.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
like what even is that
01:17:04.08
Jaime Johnesee
I just, I really think there's subliminal messaging at play somewhere. Either on Fox News or somewhere. I just, I have a feeling they'll find it.
01:17:17.28
Jaime Johnesee
because And it might be in the way he tweets. It might be, I don't know. I just, my mom was a very progressive, independent person. And for her to, I mean, she went full Trump. She's got the books.
01:17:32.18
Jaime Johnesee
She's got the coin set. She went to his hotel um in Washington, D.C. when he was president the first time.
01:17:39.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know what? If she wants some Don Jr.
01:17:40.42
Jaime Johnesee
She...
01:17:42.48
Wednesday Lee Friday
merch, please let her know that I can hook her up bigly. Okay? Because I have a bunch.
01:17:47.39
Jaime Johnesee
Well, I, you know, my my dad, before he passed, well, my stepdad, really, but before, he was awesome. Before he passed, he had a realization.
01:17:58.21
Jaime Johnesee
um Trump had COVID-19. And my stepdad was an automotive engineer. And when Trump took those two secret service agents for the ride around when he had COVID, that was the point that my stepdad went, he's not a good person.
01:18:09.80
Wednesday Lee Friday
Mm hmm. Nope. Mm
01:18:14.47
Jaime Johnesee
Because that is this closed air circulation car.
01:18:14.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
no
01:18:18.22
Jaime Johnesee
Meaning he knew he was giving those men COVID by taking that ride. And he didn't care. And that was what that was before he died, my dad realized that Trump was not a good man because of that.
01:18:31.80
Jaime Johnesee
And, um, he said he's he's putting their lives at risk just because he's bored. Who does that? And that was kind of nice. Cause it was like getting my dad back.
01:18:43.48
Jaime Johnesee
Um, because they, i mean, these are people that taught me to stand up for people. Um,
01:18:50.35
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's always interesting to hear what the last straw is for people. Because it's never what you think it'll obey
01:18:55.94
Jaime Johnesee
No. Yeah. No, I, yeah. That was surprising. um And then he he passed and it was, that was tough. That was traumatic.
01:19:06.67
Jaime Johnesee
um He had that coffee ground emesis. And so he threw up like five gallons of just this black goo.
01:19:16.14
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh no. Yikes.
01:19:17.14
Jaime Johnesee
and yeah, so let's just say supernatural is hard watching sometimes.
01:19:23.25
Wednesday Lee Friday
wow
01:19:23.24
Jaime Johnesee
Because the demons coming in and out with that black smoke. um Yeah, so his death was not easy and it was very painful. And um he couldn't have a funeral because COVID. um Anytime he had to go to the hospital, we weren't allowed to go with him because of COVID.
01:19:43.76
Jaime Johnesee
And so it was just awful. 2020 was awful. And I hope we never have to go through it again.
01:19:54.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, let's let's hope. My goodness. That that does sound like a whole lot to be dealing with at the same time. um
01:20:02.01
Jaime Johnesee
The last 10 years have been like that. It's been just nonstop hits.
01:20:05.60
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
01:20:07.89
Jaime Johnesee
um In 2014, was attacked by our St. Bernard that we had rescued. We'd had him for two years. He was four years old when we got him.
01:20:14.76
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, no.
01:20:16.55
Jaime Johnesee
um He almost killed me. um It was only my zookeeper training that kept me upright and winning the fight. um Because I knew if he killed me, he would go upstairs and kill my kids. So had to fight him off.
01:20:28.10
Wednesday Lee Friday
what, what had happened was that what, what,
01:20:31.10
Jaime Johnesee
um I was trying to clip a leash to his collar and I guess they must have the people that had him before they didn't tell us he abused they that he was abused but there were certain things that made me think he might have been so we were very gentle with him but I went to clip a leash to his collar and he turned around and bit my arm um which made me think maybe they had grabbed him by the collar and were beating him and
01:20:59.85
Wednesday Lee Friday
Mm-hmm.
01:21:00.91
Jaime Johnesee
He walked away like 15 feet, and then he just turned around and attacked.
01:21:07.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, no.
01:21:07.65
Jaime Johnesee
um He grabbed my left breast in his mouth. I had seven total bite wounds from him on that left breast. I almost lost it. um I managed to fight him off, ah punch in the nose, because if it is like p what I think happened and what um the vet think happened was it was a PTSD snap.
01:21:30.59
Jaime Johnesee
So um it wasn't like viat he didn't have rabies or anything. He just, he, I triggered him by grabbing his collar and he went wild and fought for his life.
01:21:42.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh no.
01:21:42.60
Jaime Johnesee
um When I hit him in the nose, I could literally watch him come back to himself. And it kind of reminded me of the beatings I got from my dad because my dad was ambush patrol in a tunnel rat in Vietnam.
01:21:55.84
Jaime Johnesee
So like there were moments where like, There was no human in his eyes. It was just rage. And that was kind of what I felt with the dog, just rage. um When I hit him i i in the nose, he came back to himself.
01:22:10.51
Jaime Johnesee
He submitted, he rolled over onto his back and he peed him on himself. And then I opened the front door and he ran out and I called 911 because there was just breast tissue everywhere. I knew this wasn't to wait for my husband to get home and take me to the yeah ER thing.
01:22:28.10
Jaime Johnesee
Um, so I called him.
01:22:28.33
Wednesday Lee Friday
Wow. so So what ultimately happened? I mean, it sounds like you're okay.
01:22:33.02
Jaime Johnesee
Um, he, yeah, he got put down, um because they couldn't, because it wasn't an illness. Um, the choices were he would, we had to put him down or he would have to go to a place where he would be no hands off for the rest of his life.
01:22:54.09
Jaime Johnesee
Um, And he was such a cuddle bug. That would have been hell for him. i didn't want to... Because they they wouldn't have been... a Nobody would have been able to handle him. Nobody would have been able to pet him. He would have been in a cage 24-7.
01:23:09.27
Jaime Johnesee
um Because there's no way of knowing what would set him off.
01:23:10.08
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well,
01:23:13.69
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm so sorry. What a shame.
01:23:15.90
Jaime Johnesee
it It was. Because i i I adored this dog. He he was just...
01:23:22.44
Jaime Johnesee
He was so lovely and so cuddly and so wonderful. And it wasn't his fault. The attack was not his fault. And it was, you know, anybody who has ah has PTSD and has been triggered, you understand it's not your fault.
01:23:39.23
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep.
01:23:40.03
Jaime Johnesee
You can't stop the tears. You can't stop the fear. You can't stop any of it. And he was just following his instincts
01:23:52.32
Jaime Johnesee
and then And then after that, um my the publisher I was with at the time that it no longer exists, um I realized i hadn't been paid in over six months.
01:24:05.33
Jaime Johnesee
And so I just pointed out, hey, when do we get royalties or you know at least statements? And um i the woman went completely insane on me.
01:24:18.43
Jaime Johnesee
They doxed my children.
01:24:19.12
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yikes! Whoa!
01:24:21.40
Jaime Johnesee
all over all over the internet.
01:24:21.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
What?!
01:24:23.08
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, they doxed my children. They put out pictures of my kids telling where they lived and what their names were. um And my kids were like five and three at the time, six and three at the time.
01:24:35.91
Jaime Johnesee
So um yeah, and we're the only Jonassie family.
01:24:36.01
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, that's terrifying.
01:24:40.93
Jaime Johnesee
um My husband's ancestors, the name was changed. So we are the only Jonassie family in the world.
01:24:53.29
Jaime Johnesee
So it's not like, oh, it could be any John Smith, you know?
01:24:58.39
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right. No, no, I get it.
01:24:59.80
Jaime Johnesee
and And so I went to Facebook and Twitter and all of the sites and said, hey, those are my kids. But that's and I did not give them permission to post that picture.
01:25:15.81
Jaime Johnesee
And so they were forced to take the picture down. So they put it back up drawing bags over the kids' heads.
01:25:21.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh my God.
01:25:22.14
Jaime Johnesee
Grocery bags. And yeah. And so I was dealing with all of that. I had to get a lawyer um and all all the other stuff. And um it was just an absolute mess.
01:25:36.28
Jaime Johnesee
And then my brother-in-law went missing and he died. um we found We found him passed away. And um yeah. And it it was just like that 2014 start.
01:25:51.76
Jaime Johnesee
of just hell. And it's been like that nonstop ever since I have been to 90, I've had, I've buried 94 people that I loved in just the last 10 years.
01:26:04.48
Wednesday Lee Friday
Geez.
01:26:04.41
Jaime Johnesee
And it's just been hell and I'm ready for it to stop and get better.
01:26:09.10
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and you're still here with major depressive disorder.
01:26:12.27
Jaime Johnesee
I am.
01:26:14.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
You've managed to keep yourself afloat through all of that, which in and of itself, I mean, that's that's commendable.
01:26:21.60
Jaime Johnesee
i Well, i I've backslid a few times, and I get people that are like, but you have kids. And it's like, yeah. And my brain tells me how much better they would be if I wasn't here sometimes.
01:26:33.57
Jaime Johnesee
So I fall into that pit. And I'm very lucky. I have really good friends like Lee Mitchell ah and Tracy Tufo who helped me out. um it's um I'm very grateful for them. And you, the things you do with the Mentally Oddcast.
01:26:52.05
Jaime Johnesee
And sometimes hilariously horror. I mean, these things are very helpful.
01:26:56.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
I hope so. Um, so we've, we've actually talked about your low points.
01:26:59.12
Jaime Johnesee
I know so.
01:27:03.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
What I want to get into is in hindsight, what do you think might've stopped you from reaching a point where you were ready to to give up?
01:27:03.95
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:27:14.81
Jaime Johnesee
Someone noticing.
01:27:19.12
Wednesday Lee Friday
I had a feeling that that was the answer that it that it was connection.
01:27:19.56
Jaime Johnesee
I was just...
01:27:23.69
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. um I'm a hermit. I tend to hermit hard when things are bad because i don't want to pass that negativity and darkness on to anybody.
01:27:35.24
Jaime Johnesee
So I tend to isolate. And there are people now that I have in my life that would never let me get to that point again. And i i I get close, but I have them there.
01:27:49.03
Jaime Johnesee
to pull me back. um I have, you know, they they send me memes. Memes are, I think memes are one of my favorite prescriptions for depression because, i mean, I've been so down that I just want to die and then I'll go meme hunting and like in 10 minutes I'm cracking up over some stupid thing.
01:27:59.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep.
01:28:10.10
Jaime Johnesee
So it helps.
01:28:11.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep.
01:28:13.57
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah. I want to um give another shout out to the concept of reaching out. Because the thing is, when you're depressed, you don't reach out.
01:28:21.98
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:28:24.88
Wednesday Lee Friday
Most people don't.
01:28:25.67
Jaime Johnesee
No.
01:28:25.95
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
01:28:26.64
Jaime Johnesee
No. You don't want to be a bother.
01:28:28.09
Wednesday Lee Friday
you know for For all the reasons that you described, that we feel like people would be better off without us, we don't want to bother anybody, you know we don't want to be a stone around anybody's neck, so we don't reach out.
01:28:37.85
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:28:39.70
Wednesday Lee Friday
Which means, if you are neurotypical, you've got to be checking in with your friends who aren't. Because it is never intrusive to say, how are you doing?
01:28:50.23
Wednesday Lee Friday
No, no, really, how are you doing?
01:28:51.17
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:28:53.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
01:28:54.18
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:28:55.78
Wednesday Lee Friday
because it can literally be life-saving, especially now if you have friends that are trans, if they are gay, if they are in an interracial marriage or relationship, and people who are poor, people who are disabled or are raising kids that need IEPs, all of those people are feeling the stress right now more than ever.
01:28:59.61
Jaime Johnesee
It really can. Yep.
01:29:08.58
Jaime Johnesee
Yep.
01:29:19.82
Wednesday Lee Friday
Check in with them. Make sure they're okay.
01:29:21.88
Jaime Johnesee
It
01:29:23.02
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because the thing is, well, i what I was going to say is that we don't necessarily think we have the power to keep people happy and healthy.
01:29:23.51
Jaime Johnesee
And this, sorry, go ahead. Sorry.
01:29:34.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it isn't about that.
01:29:34.85
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
01:29:36.75
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's about when somebody says to themselves every day, why does it matter? What's the point? What am I doing here? One person reaching out and saying, you're great, or you help me, or
01:29:45.67
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:29:51.32
Wednesday Lee Friday
I care about you and I want to know if you're okay. Making that connection known, just reminding people that they matter, it's huge.
01:30:02.82
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's not just trite. It's not just words. All of that stuff impacts how we feel inside and how we feel impacts everything that we say and do in this world.
01:30:06.37
Jaime Johnesee
Thank you.
01:30:14.49
Wednesday Lee Friday
It is a chain reaction.
01:30:14.77
Jaime Johnesee
I, ah I agree wholeheartedly. And that's why I try very much on social media to keep um my, my thing on social media. I love seeing people succeed. I love seeing people do well.
01:30:27.84
Jaime Johnesee
So I'm going to be out there. I'm gonna encourage you. I'm going like throw a little happy jumping up and down gif. If you got to You know, if you signed a contract or if you're you're on a podcast, I'm going share it. I'm going to throw it everywhere. I'm going to tell everybody how great you are because people aren't doing that as much anymore.
01:30:46.01
Jaime Johnesee
And we need that.
01:30:49.64
Jaime Johnesee
we We need that.
01:30:49.97
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep. yep
01:30:51.84
Jaime Johnesee
encouragement and support because we've become a country in a world of tearing people down if you don't like something you tear at it and and it used to be if you don't like something you passed it out passed it by for something you did like and now it's a fixation almost if you don't like it you destroy it and People have forgotten that you may not like it, but there's somebody else out there that does. There's somebody else out there that that TV series or book series or music can, that they relate to and it makes them, their life better.
01:31:27.21
Jaime Johnesee
So by you sitting there and saying, well, it's crap, it's horrible, it it shouldn't exist. You're telling these people that the things that make them feel good aren't good. And that's kind of crappy in my opinion.
01:31:41.11
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, the whole concept of making fun of people because they enjoy things or are excited about things, it's pretty gross.
01:31:49.20
Jaime Johnesee
I'm pretty sure I get made fun of a lot in the horror community for my just being who I am. um Because i am. ah a sweet person. I am a hugger, you know, I'm a kind, I do check up on people. I do try to make sure people are okay. I do try to support and encourage people.
01:32:11.05
Jaime Johnesee
And i don't get, I don't like the drama. I don't get caught up in the drama. Um, the whole book brawl thing that happened, um, I'm kind of sad and disappointed that it ripped the the community apart so much.
01:32:27.10
Jaime Johnesee
Um, it,
01:32:29.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah, i never I never got into that and took a side. I think my last big ah book, Kerfuffle... Oh, I ah had some things to say about Stephen King when he told that terrible joke.
01:32:40.99
Wednesday Lee Friday
That was my last...
01:32:41.08
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, that wasn't a very good joke.
01:32:43.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
No.
01:32:44.50
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:32:44.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
No, and i didn't I didn't really get it at first. I didn't understand fully why people were upset because I felt that the joke like wasn't at the expense of Haitians.
01:32:56.86
Wednesday Lee Friday
But
01:32:56.93
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
01:32:57.84
Wednesday Lee Friday
Then I talked to some people about it. ah I actually am quite lucky to know people who are willing to say, um, Wedness, take a breath, okay?
01:33:10.25
Wednesday Lee Friday
I'm going to explain this to you slowly. And it's like, oh, right, I get it. Because the issues of struggling refugees are not toys for millionaires to throw at each other.
01:33:19.79
Jaime Johnesee
Fun. Right.
01:33:21.77
Wednesday Lee Friday
I get it now.
01:33:22.16
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
01:33:23.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Like...
01:33:24.25
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:33:25.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
It's like, okay, I promise I'm not a dumbass. I'm just autistic and wasn't making that leap.
01:33:30.82
Jaime Johnesee
Well, it's, I think a lot of people are, because we don't see, because of the internet and the way things have been structured, we don't see words as harmful the way we used to. And they definitely are.
01:33:43.24
Jaime Johnesee
And, um, yeah, it's, it's just, uh,
01:33:50.22
Jaime Johnesee
We need to to be more encouraging and supportive of each other in so many ways because it is so hard. And it's funny because I remember like five years ago, everyone was like, least we're not like the romance community and fighting everywhere.
01:34:05.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah
01:34:05.46
Jaime Johnesee
And, you know, five years later, everybody's fighting everywhere.
01:34:07.12
Wednesday Lee Friday
Whoops.
01:34:08.42
Jaime Johnesee
And it's like, you know, um perhaps having something called an indie author brawl might not have been a good idea.
01:34:16.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, it seemed to remember that trigger warnings had ah horror and sci-fi people at each other's throats for a bit.
01:34:24.72
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:34:25.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because i'm I'm firmly on the side of, yeah, I'll put warnings on the back page. Just check it before you read so you'll know.
01:34:31.76
Jaime Johnesee
Right. It doesn't, yeah, it doesn't take any skin off my nose to put a trigger warning on.
01:34:32.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
And
01:34:37.81
Wednesday Lee Friday
No, and nobody's work is so super special that it it should be immune, you know?
01:34:37.96
Jaime Johnesee
And if it helps someone,
01:34:43.65
Jaime Johnesee
if, it and if it helps someone not get triggered and hurt, then that extra few moments is no big deal to me.
01:34:53.91
Wednesday Lee Friday
yep agree. So I'm looking over all the questions that we had, and it seems like we actually covered a whole bunch of this stuff earlier in the interview.
01:34:56.37
Jaime Johnesee
huh
01:35:03.17
Wednesday Lee Friday
Um... One thing I do want to cover, though, is if somebody is unfamiliar with your work, where is the best place to begin?
01:35:12.14
Jaime Johnesee
ah Probably Bob the Zombie because it's free. no That way they could get an idea if they like it or not.
01:35:18.77
Wednesday Lee Friday
Would you say that that is representative of your overall writing style?
01:35:19.03
Jaime Johnesee
um
01:35:24.10
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. Yeah, because it's I'm very mainstream. i don't I'm not good with purple prose. i I'm not very good with the atmosphere aspect of things. I'm trying to learn.
01:35:35.68
Jaime Johnesee
I'm actually working with a co-author right now on a series that he's got a very literary style. So I'm learning from him, and it's been great um for me because I'm so bare bones.
01:35:47.75
Jaime Johnesee
My style is he went over to the light switch and flipped it on. Yeah. Instead of, you know, he strode to the light switch angrily and flicked it with, you know, malice. um So I'm working, trying to to grow and and be better every day with my writing.
01:36:05.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
Cool. All right. That, that's a good answer. So, ah was there anything that we did not get to that you wanted to cover?
01:36:15.70
Jaime Johnesee
um Just, I wish that the United States would do something more about mental health care. I wish we would bring back, um, Oh my gosh. Uh, I want to say sanctuaries, but that's not it.
01:36:31.67
Jaime Johnesee
Um, you know, the asylums where you could go and there was talk therapy and it was more about helping.
01:36:42.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, like day hospital.
01:36:44.53
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. More about helping than it was about getting you on a medication because with treatment resistant depression, There's no medication that's going to help me. You know, ah the of the...
01:36:56.60
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and medication is wildly expensive if you are not properly insured. um
01:37:02.46
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:37:02.91
Wednesday Lee Friday
And ah so many insurers actually treat mental health separately than...
01:37:08.46
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:37:08.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
You know, it's like, here's your health insurance, but that's not going to cover your brain or your eyes or your teeth. Good luck.
01:37:15.71
Jaime Johnesee
What is really, really sad is... After World War II, we almost had socialized medicine.
01:37:23.62
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yep.
01:37:23.96
Jaime Johnesee
it was totally It would have been totally paid for. Everything would have worked out just fine. But the AMA, the American Medical Association, was against it. And they started calling it socialized medicine to put a stigma on it.
01:37:39.78
Jaime Johnesee
And in six months time, it went from a high approval rating to almost no approval rating and it didn't pass. And now we have insurance companies that essentially drain us dry um for no reason.
01:37:55.14
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, remember when HMOs first started in the 80s and they tried to convince us how great they were going to be because they simplified things?
01:37:58.19
Jaime Johnesee
Oh, yeah.
01:38:01.15
Jaime Johnesee
Mm-hmm.
01:38:02.51
Wednesday Lee Friday
And it's like, yeah, telling everyone no does make things quote unquote simpler, but that's not really what the job is.
01:38:02.47
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:38:12.27
Jaime Johnesee
I was very lucky and my doctor prescribed a PET scan for me and the insurance denied it. And my husband was a teacher at the time.
01:38:24.21
Jaime Johnesee
So he had MESA, the ah Michigan Educators something um insurance, and they fought Blue Cross and Blue Shield and ah got it to be allowed.
01:38:27.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh. hu
01:38:36.38
Jaime Johnesee
And so I had the PET scan and And everything's okay. But ah they weren't going to allow me to have this PET scan because, well, I didn't have cancer. And they're like, well, we're looking for cancer.
01:38:48.94
Jaime Johnesee
So maybe, could you allow it? um And it just, it's terrifying that people that have absolutely no medical education at all are making decisions over people's health.
01:39:04.56
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and they're starting to use ai as well
01:39:05.28
Jaime Johnesee
And
01:39:08.20
Jaime Johnesee
terrifying. Although plus side of AI, it has done so much good in the medical field because it has found a lot of existing medications that can be used for um ah exotic illness illnesses that don't have medications that there's so few people suffering from that they'll never be a medical study for.
01:39:28.37
Jaime Johnesee
to create a medication. So they found already existing medications that can help people that were suffering. So, I mean, there's some good and bad to AI. It's a tool. It can be used as a tool, but we can't, we need more time.
01:39:41.68
Jaime Johnesee
We need to go slower with it. We need more time with it and we need to make it so people can't make money off of it. um You know, I, I used, I, when it first started, I used night cafe, a generative AI um image thing.
01:39:58.42
Wednesday Lee Friday
yeah
01:39:58.60
Jaime Johnesee
um, for it to, I would put it on my wallpaper for my phone and I would write a short story that I put out for free on my blog, but I had to have some kind of image to go with the the link or social media wouldn't send it anywhere.
01:40:14.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
hu
01:40:14.62
Jaime Johnesee
Um, but as the AI progressed and I started realizing how crappy it is, I learned to draw myself. So, I guess, thanks AI, you taught me how to draw.
01:40:25.25
Wednesday Lee Friday
Nice.
01:40:26.83
Jaime Johnesee
um
01:40:27.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
Nice.
01:40:28.02
Jaime Johnesee
So that I could get rid of using AI and use only my own work to promote that.
01:40:37.94
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay, cool.
01:40:37.96
Jaime Johnesee
um But they were short stories I was putting out for free on my site. So it's not like I could afford, you know, I've got like $30 to my name.
01:40:44.23
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right.
01:40:45.38
Jaime Johnesee
I can't afford to hire an artist to make one of a kind works.
01:40:47.42
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh, no, I get it. When we first started with the magazine, we used AI art that we we made to represent stories, and then I handed everything off to H, and he turned it into a cover.
01:41:00.45
Wednesday Lee Friday
So I was using generative AI ah visuals, for like the first two or three issues. Cause I didn't know. I thought that it was like, I mean, you can take a picture and put like a photo, right, exactly.
01:41:12.60
Jaime Johnesee
like Print shot, like photo shoot, like print. Yeah.
01:41:15.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
I thought it was like ah high-end Photoshop that was taking, you know, I didn't realize it was stealing from artists.
01:41:19.39
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:41:23.23
Jaime Johnesee
Still, same.
01:41:23.42
Wednesday Lee Friday
I didn't understand the environmental impact of ai
01:41:27.27
Jaime Johnesee
Correct, same.
01:41:27.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
um You know, we we just didn't know. So we stopped using AI art.
01:41:30.32
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:41:33.17
Wednesday Lee Friday
We, did sort of a mea culpa in one of our issues explaining what we did and why and that we weren't doing it anymore and why.
01:41:40.50
Jaime Johnesee
That's awesome.
01:41:42.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
So, you know, like on the one hand, it's like, I don't want to judge anyone too harshly if they really don't understand the impact of of what it's doing. But we now know what the impact is and that it's not good over and above the fact that like I've lost three jobs in the last two years to AI.
01:41:52.73
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:42:03.49
Wednesday Lee Friday
And
01:42:03.60
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah. ah Lee Mitchell, she lost an editing job. She was editing for a a newsletter or magazine and um they went full AI with their editing.
01:42:14.49
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, and I'll bet you can tell when you read it because it's not, AI editing is is not great.
01:42:15.50
Jaime Johnesee
It's terrible. Yeah. terrible yeah
01:42:21.29
Jaime Johnesee
No, it's not. And I don't know if it ever will be. And it's it's a shame that that we we're going down this route. And it's a shame if there is still actually an AI Authors Guild because, you know, I i just...
01:42:32.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
Ugh.
01:42:35.07
Jaime Johnesee
And I'm not talking about, like, the people that use Dragon because their hands are too gnarled from arthritis to write.
01:42:41.75
Wednesday Lee Friday
Well, obviously, it's
01:42:41.91
Jaime Johnesee
That's an AI usage that I'm okay with. it's
01:42:44.55
Wednesday Lee Friday
hu
01:42:45.08
Jaime Johnesee
It's more the people that are like one sentence to make a whole book. um I'll have to send you a video. Adrian Bliss, this comic this comic on YouTube, did this video about like what it's going to be like to create in the future.
01:43:01.30
Jaime Johnesee
And he just like slams his fist on the keyboard and it's like, that's a moving 900 page novel. Would you like to create something else?
01:43:09.76
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yes, make it into a movie.
01:43:11.85
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah, and it's it's just, it's really funny because he's just just like, huh? And then it's like, oh, you want to do a song? Okay.
01:43:20.03
Wednesday Lee Friday
Right.
01:43:20.02
Jaime Johnesee
And um it it's like, my brain is turning to slop. AI is turning my brain to slop. And it was just, it's really good.
01:43:27.42
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
01:43:28.40
Jaime Johnesee
I'll have to send it to you.
01:43:30.36
Wednesday Lee Friday
Cool. All right. Well, I think that's ah pretty much everything. um We do give guests a chance to ask questions. And I know you asked me about Maga Boy trolls, like why I engage with them and such.
01:43:42.23
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:43:44.39
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
01:43:44.50
Jaime Johnesee
how How do you deal with the ah um the just utter crap that you receive from them?
01:43:51.19
Wednesday Lee Friday
um Well, you know, I was raised by conservatives, um people who are more or less MAGA boys now. My brother is a MAGA boy. Well, I have two brothers. oh Well, technically I have three brothers. One of them I don't know very well, but he's anti-trans, so I could give a fuck. The other one's a MAGA boy. And then I have a decent brother that I talk to.
01:44:11.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
um
01:44:12.23
Jaime Johnesee
Well, I'm glad you have the decent brother.
01:44:12.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
But I'm, yeah, but i'm I'm pretty well versed in those viewpoints and where they come from. and
01:44:20.78
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:44:21.80
Wednesday Lee Friday
i can't I cannot resist the siren song of the MAGA troll, you know?
01:44:27.88
Jaime Johnesee
yeah
01:44:30.45
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because first of all, I'm autistic, it turns out. So when people say things to me that are demonstrably untrue, I i have to correct them.
01:44:40.98
Wednesday Lee Friday
And when I think that those falsehoods are coming from a place of insecurity, I want to exploit that. i am...
01:44:48.35
Jaime Johnesee
Yes.
01:44:49.10
Wednesday Lee Friday
and and the the further we could... Well, I mean, I guess I gotta be a little more honest than that. I thought that Don Jr. was a good person ever since he was a little boy. When he was 12, I thought that he was a brave little badass and that he was doing his best to not become just another rich fucking asshole.
01:45:10.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
And I believed it so hard. And I believed it for years and years... even when this MAGA thing started,
01:45:17.00
Jaime Johnesee
sorry.
01:45:18.41
Wednesday Lee Friday
There was a point in like 2018 when he was supposed to be building low-income housing. And I was like, see?
01:45:25.64
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:45:27.08
Wednesday Lee Friday
Did everybody see that? I told you this maggot shit was an act. He is faking. He is faking all those people out. And now that he's in there and he has power, he's helping poor people. See? See? See? And and i was I was totally wrong. It was another fucking Trumpy scam and nobody got paid and nothing got built and And it took me way, way too long to realize that, ah yeah, he's he's garbage now. If he was ever good, he's not now. And because even at the point where I said, all right, fine, he's doing terrible things, but he probably has to. He probably has to to keep his children safe.
01:46:08.22
Wednesday Lee Friday
And because, you know, they're bad people. They don't care when children get hurt. Yeah.
01:46:12.52
Jaime Johnesee
Right.
01:46:13.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
And then he sold out his children to the fascists. And he he directly involved them in things. He sexualized his oldest daughter ah in a very Trumpy way.
01:46:28.45
Wednesday Lee Friday
and And it made me sick, frankly.
01:46:28.48
Jaime Johnesee
Yeah.
01:46:31.87
Wednesday Lee Friday
i I cried and cried and threw up and realized that i and I...
01:46:35.79
Jaime Johnesee
and I'm sorry.
01:46:37.90
Wednesday Lee Friday
To this day, like I still don't know... If he was never good and I just hallucinated it. Or if he really did used to be good. And that time he got his heart broken by his having to break up with his favorite mistress.
01:46:52.16
Wednesday Lee Friday
That it just like destroyed him. And and made him bad. I don't know. I don't know what happened. But... ah
01:47:00.24
Jaime Johnesee
He probably doesn't know what happened either.
01:47:02.38
Wednesday Lee Friday
that's That's probably the real reason that I fight with MAGA boys.
01:47:03.82
Jaime Johnesee
but
01:47:06.42
Wednesday Lee Friday
Because I will never get over it. I will never get over... how sad I find it and how stupid it makes me feel. Wow, I'm really upset.
01:47:15.36
Jaime Johnesee
Well,
01:47:16.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
didn't.
01:47:18.52
Jaime Johnesee
but you're doing things, you're planting seeds and you're sowing seeds in such a way that it might not hit them now, but eventually something that you say will make sense to these people.
01:47:36.24
Jaime Johnesee
and And I truly believe that.
01:47:39.80
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's possible. You never know. Hey, all right. It's time for the Mad Lib.
01:47:45.47
Jaime Johnesee
Okay. Okay.
01:47:46.24
Wednesday Lee Friday
All right. So let's see. We're going to start with plural nouns. I need one, two, three plural nouns.
01:47:56.29
Jaime Johnesee
Cat's, dogs, birds.
01:48:02.13
Wednesday Lee Friday
All right. And I need a, let's see, singular noun. I need two.
01:48:11.17
Jaime Johnesee
Mother, father. 13.
01:48:16.93
Wednesday Lee Friday
All right. And I need a number.
01:48:20.90
Jaime Johnesee
thirteen
01:48:23.74
Wednesday Lee Friday
Let's see. One, two, three, four adjectives, please.
01:48:29.44
Jaime Johnesee
Pretty, warm, bubbly, funny, bright.
01:48:41.04
Wednesday Lee Friday
And sorry, what was the last one?
01:48:43.25
Jaime Johnesee
Bright, B-R-I-G-H-T.
01:48:47.20
Wednesday Lee Friday
And let's see. oh we got a couple of person in room here. Person in room is always the guest first, but there's another one. So that'll be me.
01:49:01.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
I need, uh-oh, looks like I need one more adjective. I think I miscounted.
01:49:09.06
Jaime Johnesee
um Serious.
01:49:13.68
Wednesday Lee Friday
And an adverb.
01:49:17.92
Jaime Johnesee
ah Swimmingly.
01:49:23.83
Wednesday Lee Friday
And verb ending in ing.
01:49:28.01
Jaime Johnesee
Running.
01:49:32.71
Wednesday Lee Friday
Alright. So this is called rivalry. And these are all sports ones that we've been doing lately.
01:49:40.48
Jaime Johnesee
Oh,
01:49:40.63
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay.
01:49:40.66
Jaime Johnesee
cool
01:49:41.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
The cats, our biggest rivals, think they're better than everyone else just because they've won the mother championship 13 times. They also swimmingly beat us in every pretty game last season.
01:49:57.80
Wednesday Lee Friday
The only reason they won is because they had Jamie on their team, the best warm pitcher in the league. But they aren't playing this year, so we've got a chance to beat the dogs off them.
01:50:13.12
Jaime Johnesee
I'm
01:50:16.59
Wednesday Lee Friday
And this year, we've got some really serious players. Wetness, our bubbly fielder, can throw all the way from funny field to first father.
01:50:28.28
Wednesday Lee Friday
Also, I've been going to the batting cages every Saturday to practice my... Oh, my running skills. Well, that... Okay. um So I won't strike out so much anymore.
01:50:40.53
Wednesday Lee Friday
I can't wait for the bright game against our rivals this Saturday. We'll give them a run for their birds.
01:50:50.21
Wednesday Lee Friday
Nice.
01:50:50.43
Jaime Johnesee
That's cute.
01:50:51.30
Wednesday Lee Friday
I always love a good Mad Lib.
01:50:51.90
Jaime Johnesee
but
01:50:54.44
Jaime Johnesee
That was fun. Thank you
01:50:56.00
Wednesday Lee Friday
Totally. Well, thank you so much for being here. I am glad we could have this conversation.
01:50:58.86
Jaime Johnesee
Thank you for having me on.
01:51:00.58
Wednesday Lee Friday
Yeah.
01:51:00.95
Jaime Johnesee
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. And thank you for letting me talk about the mental health care in this country.
01:51:03.82
Wednesday Lee Friday
Oh.
01:51:07.81
Jaime Johnesee
it We just, we need to change things.
01:51:12.00
Wednesday Lee Friday
Indeed.
01:51:12.33
Jaime Johnesee
Sanitariums.
01:51:12.64
Wednesday Lee Friday
Indeed.
01:51:13.65
Jaime Johnesee
That's the word I was thinking of. Not sanctuaries. Sanitariums.
01:51:17.34
Wednesday Lee Friday
Okay. Yep. Yep. And we want to ah remind everybody to please find us on Ko-Fi.
01:51:20.28
Jaime Johnesee
I'm worried actually.
01:51:24.46
Wednesday Lee Friday
That's ko-fi slash sometimes hilarious horror because the magazine supports us here at the Mentally Oddcast. So the best way to support us is to support the magazine.
01:51:35.26
Wednesday Lee Friday
And thanks so much. We will see everybody next week.
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